decision-making for this vulnerable population includes not compro- mising safety for cost-savings, while simultaneously endorsing effi- ciency as a key component of the decision-making process. The 2022 TSD conference once again provided me a chance to com- pellingly advocate for the provision of safe transportation of children with disabilities and special needs in all modes of school transportation. My specific agenda at this meeting was to gain national attention for alternative transportation and its role in the provision of safe transporta- tion, when the “Yellow School Bus,” was eliminated as the most feasible mode of safe school transportation. My ultimate goal was that the 17th National Congress on Student Trans- portation (NCST) this past May would address alternative transportation and acknowledge its role in school trans- portation as a necessity for specific populations, including students with disabilities and special needs. It was rewarding when, for the first time since the inception of this industry standard-setting exercise in 1939, the 17th NCST provided a new section on alternative transportation under writing committee chairperson Tyler Bryan, education associate for school transportation at the Delaware Department of Education. The committee’s work focused on
four areas: Driver credentials, driver training, vehicle design/equipment requirements and special education policy considerations. The alternative transportation committee approval was a milestone as the first non-yel- low school bus section addressed at the NCST and was a definitive victory for the well-being of children with disabilities and special needs. As an alternative transportation
committee member, I was commit- ted to reinforcing that students with disabilities and special needs would only be recommended to receive alternative transportation services
when commensurate with the individualized education program (IEP) team’s recommendation to approve this mode of transportation, for the time period necessary, to receive access to special education and related services. In summary, the 2025 National School Transportation Specifications and
Procedures released last month and approved at the 17th NCST states alter- native transportation may be used to provide safe transportation to special education students when the traditional school bus cannot safely meet the
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