Q&A
Historic
Endeavor Delaware state director Tyler Bryan shares how the first non-yellow-school bus section—alternative transportation—debated and approved at the National Congress on School Transportation came to be
With Ryan Gray |
ryan@stnonline.com
T
yler Bryan attended his first National Congress on School Transportation in May 2015. The ex- perience prepared him to take on an industry first 10 years later.
Bryan, Delaware’s de facto state director as the educa-
tion associate for school transportation at the department of education, chaired the new alternative transportation writing committee that was included at the 17th NCST in Des Moines, Iowa. It was the first time state delegates took up a non-school bus issue since the first congress held in 1939. It was blasphemous to previously even think of pro- posing recommendations for other vehicles that transport students to and from school, not to mention other related events.
Seeing how NCST worked in 2015, at the behest of then-state director Ron Love, allowed Bryan to prepare not only in his role leading this historic proposal process but his responsibilities in providing guidance to school districts in his own state. “The committees and delegation helped me gain an
excellent working knowledge that better prepared me for taking on this role in Delaware. I am very appreciative of Ron’s guidance and inclusiveness in my previous role, and it was due to that involvement that eventually led me to this position,” Bryan said. “Being a 2015 delegate allowed me to see the process Ron followed to prepare, the execution during congress, and then the follow-up,
28 School Transportation News • JULY 2025
including our state’s specification update process. Getting to be involved and see that made it much easier to understand expectations and made me comfortable enough to take on a writing chair position.” Despite admittedly being awestruck by NCST in 2015,
the deliberations were made easier, he added, by know- ing that all delegates as well as interested parties—no matter the varying opinions—were there for the same reason: Student safety. “In my opinion, the 2025 on-site congress proceed-
ings went very smoothly, and I was impressed by how well they stayed on schedule to accomplish 10 years of work within the provided timeframe,” he noted. Bryan provides more insights into the proposal pro-
cess for alternative transportation, specifically, and the need for the industry to come together and create rec- ommendations that benefit school districts of all states, in this month’s Q&A.
STN: Why is the topic of alternative transportation so
important? In Delaware? Nationwide? Bryan: Alternative transportation is important. As
we know it is here and ever expanding. As this expan- sion continues, states and local districts are at the point where they must evaluate their needs and determine what policies, procedures and processes are required to ensure that they are doing their due diligence, to ensure
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