As the economy has improved, fewer people are looking for employment as school bus drivers. When fewer buses are available, more students drive to school, brining unwanted environmental risks along for the ride.
An interactive feature in The Wall Street Journal examines the challenges created by a shortage of school bus drivers all over the country.
The effects of Wake County, North Carolina's school bus driver shortage, as an example, are obvious, writes story author Valerie Bauerlein:
In the last three years, Wake County has cut one in five bus routes, bumped children off the bus who live within a mile of their school, required others to walk further to the bus stop, and now is considering starting some schools earlier in the morning.
Wake County's driver shortage has grown into a crisis as the fast growing county has added 160,000 pupils in the last decade (a growth rate of 25 percent), while the number of bus drivers has declined by 18 percent.
The problem isn't unique to Wake County, however. "Roughly 90% of 231 school districts in a School Bus Fleet magazine survey last fall said they were short on drivers," according to Bauerlein. School districts are having a hard time competing in the labor market as wages rise and unemployment drops around the country.
The article includes high quality images, audio clips, and a lot of personal testimony to explain and illustrate the scale of the school bus driver challenge facing the nation's school system.
FULL STORY: Schools Wrack Their Brains as Bus Driver Jobs Go Begging
Parents Turn to Ride-Hailing as Schools Pull Bus Transportation
Some districts are cutting back on school buses, leaving some children without reliable transportation to and from school.
Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.
California Invests Additional $5M in Electric School Buses
The state wants to electrify all of its school bus fleets by 2035.
Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network
The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.
New State Study Suggests Homelessness Far Undercounted in New Mexico
An analysis of hospital visit records provided a more accurate count than the annual point-in-time count used by most agencies.
Michigan Bills Would Stiffen Penalties for Deadly Crashes
Proposed state legislation would close a ‘legal gap’ that lets drivers who kill get away with few repercussions.
Report: Bus Ridership Back to 86 Percent of Pre-Covid Levels
Transit ridership around the country was up by 85 percent in all modes in 2024.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions