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Student transporters ‘get creative’ when balancing need for modern school buses with finding money in the budget


Written by Mark Rowh 24 School Transportation News • APRIL 2026


t’s always been an important decision, but the question of when to invest in new school buses may be more chal- lenging than ever. With the rising cost of new vehicles, squeezing the most out of existing buses makes plenty of


sense. But at what point are the advantages of these buses out- weighed by their liabilities? And how can transportation leaders gain maximum benefit from each vehicle in the fleet? In answering such questions, a disciplined lifecycle review


makes for best practice, said Keith Terry, director of transporta- tion at Orangeburg County School District in South Carolina. For his district, the benchmark for replacement is generally 10 years or 250,000 miles. “Once you cross those thresholds, the math usually stops working


in your favor,” he said. “A younger fleet is simply a healthier fleet. It’s safer for the students/passengers and more reliable for drivers.” He added that following this approach protects the budget


from the “death by a thousand cuts” that comes with constant, major repairs on aging school buses. For the state as a whole, South Carolina law mandates a cy- cle generally leading to replacement of buses after 15 years of


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