Maintaining a fleet of buses to transport students to school is a major expense for school districts. An efficient bus routing system can greatly reduce the time and cost associated with transportation, while also ensuring the safety and comfort of students. Optimizing large-scale school bus routing problems (SBRP) is challenging due to the huge…

This study examines the impact of a bus driver attendance incentive program implemented in a rural Mississippi school district with the aim of improving bus driver attendance rates. There is a shortage of bus drivers across Mississippi which has made bus driver attendance paramount. Bus driver absenteeism causes disruptions in student…

Costs for transporting public school students have risen 33% from 2008 to 2018, reaching, on average, $1,152 per student transported. The reasons behind this shift include higher labor costs, various forms of school choice requiring longer commutes from students' neighborhoods, and environmentally friendly upgrades to bus fleets. As a result, some…

This paper explores 'home-school' transport in contemporary schooling contexts in England. Home-school transport is a complex issue lying between government departments, policy frameworks, research and professional disciplines. It is complicated further by commercial and private interests alongside social and public ones. Informed by an…

This report examines three factors that pose a risk to student transportation in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD): school choice, limited transportation resources, and diverse school contexts. It addresses these concerns in order to increase environmental sustainability in transportation among District families.

California legislators swiftly passed a budget bill last week aimed at sheltering school busing dollars from a midyear budget cut many districts and advocates said particularly hurt rural school systems, along with urban districts with desegregation plans. While the measure, which Gov. Jerry Brown was expected to sign into law, would restore $248…

Whenever a school district considers changing bus stops, bus routes, or bell times, the public reaction is often decidedly unequal to the magnitude of the changes proposed. Unfortunately, the severity of continued budget crises has compelled many school districts to make major changes to their transportation systems. While additional cuts in…

This article reports that with fuel prices soaring nationwide, reaching more than $4 for each gallon of gas or diesel, school districts are struggling to supplement transportation-budget shortfalls and find ways to offset the increasing costs as a new school year approaches. Now districts--most of whose buses run on diesel fuel--are scrambling to…

Pupil transportation is an essential part of the overall school program, which requires constant supervision and direction. Perhaps no other phase of the school program is more closely observed by the public or has a greater tendency to mold public opinion about the schools than the school bus system. The success of any school district pupil…

School transportation industry statistics show the annual average costs for operating and maintaining a single school bus range from $34,000 to $38,000. Operating a school bus fleet at high efficiency has a real impact on the dollars saved for a school district and the reliability of transportation service to students. In this article, the author…

Over the past several decades West Virginia has closed scores of small, locally-based schools (primarily high schools), as part of district-level consolidation. These consolidations have affected families and students in numerous ways. Most notably, students living in outlying towns are now required to travel much longer distances to reach…

Choosing the number, types, and sizes of school buses requires analysis of the following factors: the number and distribution of students who need transportation; characteristics of the district such as topography, narrowness of streets, and rural or urban location; extracurricular activities and special education programs; and economics and…

Reviews safety considerations, district responsibilities, and court litigation related to pupil transportation. Highlights litigious issues involving selection of bus stops, driver responsibilities when transporting and disembarking students, and school bus safety requirements. School districts lacking medical emergency and disruptive behavior…

Suggests specific ways for school districts to control rapidly rising transportation costs and assure many years of quality service. (Author/MLF)

A comparison of two Tennessee school districts revealed that the district with in-house pupil transportation spent less than the district that contracted for the service. A sidebar discusses the characteristics of small vs. large contractors for school buses. (MLF)