Mar 09 Allies for Children’s Latest Report Reflects on the Urgent Need to Change the School Transportation System

Mar 09h in Bold Voices by

(March 9, 2026)

Children in all school districts, households, and income levels rely on school transportation to get safely to school, and when the transportation system struggles, almost everyone is impacted. Outside of the educational consequences that a lack of consistent transportation has on students, logistically it takes a toll on families’ schedules when buses come too late, too early, or not at all. Unfortunately, unreliable school transit is becoming the norm. Students in more affluent family situations can adjust by seeking alternative transportation. However, for the most vulnerable populations, the school bus may be the only option.

Many factors contribute to unreliable school transit. For example, schools struggling with the national bus driver shortage must alter optimized routes and use buses and drivers for multiple schools, band-aiding a solution to the lack of needed drivers for all the trips necessary. The recent prevalence of school choice and the “10 mile rule” exacerbates this situation further. The result is longer bus rides for students, inconsistent bus pickups when a bus is delayed from a previous route, and continuous daily stressors for parents, caregivers, and school staff who are left to troubleshoot the situation.

For years, Allies for Children has advocated that it’s time to think creatively about how to effectively transport children. Research has shown that consolidated student transportation systems can save money and resources. For example, a few years back, it was found that 38 bus routes could be eliminated if just eight Allegheny County school districts shared services for charter and non-public students. This route sharing would limit vehicles on the road and produce a possible annual savings of well over $1 million dollars. Imagine the savings that could occur, the time saved, and the buses reduced if 43 school districts could work together on transportation.

National examples show that sharing buses works. Over the last decade, Allies for Children has partnered with school districts in an effort to share school bus routes. Allies for Children’s new report, Reflections on the Road; Successes and Lessons from Testing Shared School Transportation in Allegheny County reflects on the challenges faced throughout this process, and offers recommendations on how to move forward.

Recommendations for Allegheny County include:
  1. Change the current system: Create a centralized, county-wide busing system for all non-public, charter, McKinney-Vento, foster and other special circumstance students. Leave school districts to focus their transportation efforts on children attending district schools.
  2. Add additional support: Hire staff whose purpose is to route all students within the county that fit under this criteria regardless of the school district in which they reside.
  3. Improve coordination of services: Establish dedicated roles within school transportation departments for special service coordination, ensuring efficient communication and care of transient students between schools and the county division
  4. Keep communication open: Offer regular county-wide meetings for school transportation staff, and include this staff in any district-wide conversations around transportation efficiencies.
Recommendations for the state include:
  1. Revisit the funding formula to reflect the costs of today. The transportation funding formula for reimbursement has not been updated since the 1970s. It is critical that the Department of Education in coordination with PennDOT closely examine the funding formula and update it to reflect the true costs of today.
  2. Offer more flexibility for school districts to use their transportation funding in creative ways – including reducing restrictions on how to use transportation funding, and instead focus on positive outcomes. (e.g. how many students are transported, if a district improves bus ride times, etc.)
  3. Use state transportation funding to incentivize innovative approaches in transportation. Districts should be encouraged and rewarded for creative approaches to transportation. This could include funding incentives to spur innovation including ride sharing and coordination with other districts.

The current system of yellow bus transit does not meet the needs of today. We hope this report will offer valuable insights into the current struggles that exist and hinder innovation, as well as shed light on the possibilities available if local and state leaders consider a new approach.

Shauna McMillan, Consultant