those people,” Mikelski said. “I had a lot of retirements in May. Using alterna- tive transportation is my best and most cost-effective option. I’d have to come up with 50 drivers at least to cover what the alternative providers do.”
The Crystal Ball Gazing into the future, third-party
vendors agree that technology will continue to spur the student transpor- tation transformation, and the major beneficiaries will be special needs students based upon the increased flexibility offered. And school districts are following suit. “Student transportation in the
coming decades will boil down to two things—technology and trust,” predicted EverDriven’s Bowling. “The demand for reliable real-time in- formation about transportation will continue to grow, and schools will look for tools to adapt more quickly to the needs of their parents and stu- dents. This is especially the case for parents of students with special needs. “Trust, however, is key. Schools, teachers, families and communities will seek out reliable, trusted partners that can address these challenges,” Bowling said. Adroit’s Saidan said it is only natural
that student transportation adapts to the changing times. “We have the opportunity to
leverage technology to better serve in- dividual needs and that is why I think it is important for school districts and transportation providers to have a variety of resources available to them when creating their transportation plans,” Saidan said. “Special education students will especially benefit from the increased availability of alternative transportation models that employ specialized drivers trained in support- ing IEPs, and school administrators will no longer feel the pressure to impose one-size-doesn’t-fit-all trans- portation solutions on an increasingly diverse student population.” ●
Read about an Arizona school district that is utilizing an innovative state grant to alleviate its bus driver shortage and extend transportation service to students experiencing homelessness. Visit
stnonline.com/go/do.
With over 7 million total trips serviced nationwide, everyday
districts trust us as the nation’s #1 alternative
transportation provider to safely transport their
most vulnerable students to and from school.
Visit
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www.stnonline.com 29
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