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In California, districts are slashing bus routes to cope with budget shortfalls and high fuel costs. The Los Angeles Times reports. In Pasco County, Fla., The St. Petersburg Times reports, bus route specialists are re-evaluating the walking conditions leading to 27 campuses to determine whether it’s safe enough to stop giving “courtesy” bus passes to […]

In the Orange County (Fla.) district, like many across the country, the daily schedule for schools has been along these lines: High schools start first, elementary schools a little later in the morning, and middle schools later still. Large districts stagger the start times mainly so that buses can be used more efficiently–the same driver […]

High school students in Chicago can get a reduced-fare transit card so they can ride the Chicago Transit Authority trains and buses to and from school at a bargain rate. Now, The Chicago Tribune says, Chicago public school officials are looking into the possibility of using smart-card technology so they can track the […]

In the Alexander (N.Y.) Central School District bus last month, a 6-year-old girl kissed a boy on the school bus, and the girl was suspended from riding the bus for three days, The Buffalo News says. Alexander Elementary School Principal Matthew Stroud says the student violated the student code of conduct and bus rules, […]

In North Carolina today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters announced a proposal to mandate the installation of safety belts in small school buses have and to require that all school buses have higher seat backs. However, the government is not proposing a safety-belt requirement on larger buses. Peters says the three-point safety belts are […]

To get to school in Bayfield, the 15 or so students who live on Madeline Island in far northern Wisconsin have to get across 2.5 miles of Lake Superior. Normally, they take a ferry, but for a few weeks in the winter and spring, that’s a problem. There’s too much ice for a ferry, but […]

Where have all the walkers gone?
Gone for cars and buses, every one, Pete Seeger might say. According to The New York Times, fewer than 15 percent of student walk or bicycle to school. That compares with half of all students who walked or pedaled 40 years ago. One-quarter take buses, and about 60 percent […]

Should a school district run its own bus fleet, or should it contract with an outside transportation company? In the Dysart (Ariz.) Unified School District, officials have to decided to end its contract with Durham School Services. The district will get its own buses and need to hire about 140 drivers. The district says it […]