SPECIAL REPORT Same Goals, Different Vehicles
Safety, reliability and trust are still paramount regardless of the mode used to get students to and from school Written by Kari Lydersen
Y
ellow school buses are synonymous with access to school. But school districts are in- creasingly turning to alternate or supplemental methods of transportation to serve students
with special needs and circumstances, and simply to get kids to school in the most efficient and effective way. A wide array of companies, fleets, drivers and bro-
kers help districts meet these needs and integrate them with their larger system. The result are complicated and nimble networks that can respond on short notice to changing circumstances. Technology and trust are key to these arrangements,
as providers help districts ensure that alternative trans- portation is safe, reliable and comfortable, and parents or guardians are kept in the loop. Some students with disabilities or in preschool require
special seats or other equipment during rides. Many have an assistant (such as an aide) traveling with them. Meanwhile, students who are experiencing homeless- ness or housing instability, and students in foster care, also have special transportation needs. Their pickup location may change frequently and on short notice. A California law that took effect last year underscores
how essential alternative transportation is to district op- erations. SB88 includes a host of safety mandates meant to ensure that alternative transportation providers are meeting similar standards as yellow school buses. The law requires drivers to undergo a background check, a medical exam, a basic amount of training, and drug and alcohol screening, among other requirements. Vehicles must have a first aid kit and fire extinguisher, and undergo third-party inspections every year or every 50,000 miles. The structure of SB88 sheds light on the type of al-
ternative transportation districts often offer, without even defining it as such, noted Tim Purvis, founder and principal consultant for Pupil Transportation Information, a school transportation consulting firm. Any vehicle car- rying 10 or more people—including the driver and faculty and staff—for more than 40 hours annually is subject to SB88 requirements. Coaches who drive sports teams in vans to competitions or teachers who drive members of a debate club or band may have to meet the requirements. Purvis said districts are often unaware of or reluctant to embrace this mandate, and many have not completed the training and testing necessary to comply. “A majority of our clients still do not have what we would consider robust language specific to how they
16 School Transportation News • JULY 2026
Family-run business Pawar Transportation meets personally with each driver, reviewing equipment and hard copies of individualized pickup plans.
handle the requirements of SB88 or alternative student transportation,” said Purvis, who has been working in school transportation for four decades, much of it as director of transportation for Poway Unified School Dis- trict in Southern California. Purvis also noted that alternative transportation pro-
viders can avoid SB88 requirements when their vehicles are unable to seat more than nine people. Some compa- nies are refurbishing larger vans to bring them under the compliance threshold. Purvis said the issues that SB88 brought to light, and the cost of compliance, underscore that districts may sometimes too readily turn to alternative transportation, when there could be other solutions to their routing and service challenges. “What you’re doing is putting kids in the most expen-
sive form of transportation,” he said. “I’m not saying I’m not a proponent of alternative transportation. It’s the ex- act best place for some children who need very involved support,” he said. But in other cases, the cost may be unnecessary, when
benefits could be achieved by other means. “It’s a business decision,” Purvis said. Small districts without in-house transportation staff
also rely on alternative providers as their de facto trans- portation department. Mike Sawyer, executive director of the transportation department at San Marcos Unified
PHOTO COURTESY OF PAWAR TRANSPORTATION.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
