When schools closed in March 2020 all over the world, they not only lost their students in the building but also the people who helped get the students to school: School bus drivers. School busses were on hold and bus drivers needed to secure new jobs.
Severe bus driver shortage challenging the transportation system
Now that schools are open again and children have learned to adapt to in-person learning, our education system is facing another serious problem: The school buses are there, students are back, but not their drivers. The entire student transportation math has become much more complex. It has become difficult to get the kids to school due to the severe school bus driver shortages. School administrators are desperately trying to attract additional drivers, and often transportation directors and even superintendents or teachers get behind the wheel to help out. In my hometown in Connecticut, school transportation pre-pandemic was smooth and we knew our driver by first name. Now, 13 of the 38 bus routes were missing bus drivers. Our town is choked with traffic – especially in front of our 8 schools, with parents waiting 30-50 minutes to drop off or pick up students.
Student transportation – a nationwide problem
And this is not just an anecdotal observation. The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT)
commissioned a survey in 2021 of America’s shortage of school bus drivers and the results were eye-opening: Out of 1500 respondents, 51% said the driver shortage was “severe” or “desperate”. Roughly three-quarters of all respondents (78%) also indicated that the school bus driver shortage is getting “much worse” or “a little worse.” Roughly two-thirds of all respondents (65%) indicated that the bus driver shortage is their number one problem when it came to school transportation and cited the pay and length of hiring as the main problem for the shortage. During the pandemic, many bus drivers simply weren’t keen on driving un-vaccinated school-age children; they were able to secure higher-paying jobs and remained unconvinced to return. Roona Weber, Executive Director of the Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) that co-commissioned the survey states: “While the industry seems to struggle with driver shortages each year, this year’s shortage has a different feel to it, and having the data to understand it is invaluable.” And the Pew Charitable Trust points out that mostly rural districts and lower-income families are feeling the pain of lacking transportation services for students.
New mobility solutions for students
Here at GoKid, we hear the pain: We are receiving emails and calls from school districts, independent schools, and charter schools inquiring about how a school carpool solution can offer a solution to the transportation crisis. The good news: GoKid is complementing existing bus routes as it simply offers a software solution to help parents connect and our GoKid Apps are allowing users to easily set up and manage their carpools within trusted school networks.
The school bus partner: A carpool program
GoKid has relaunched its affordable carpool service this year as a complimentary transportation offer and is available in all States in the US, and even in Canada and Australia. With safety requests built into our service, training requirements are minimal. Whether you are an interested school, school district, region, or school bus operator, we are thrilled to hear from you to discuss how we can partner with you.
How to launch a student carpool program
Launching our carpool program is easy: After signing an agreement with us, our team will upload your school family data to your admin portal (or connect with your Student Information System). We’ll agree on a launch date and invite your school communities. Parents will set up carpools and invite other school families via GoKid Connect; then they can manage their carpools with our award-winning apps. Parents have questions? The support is on us! And obviously, compliance with all aspects of data security and safety is at the core of our commitment.
Interested in learning more? Please visit our website, book a free consultation with us, or contact us via email: schools@gokid.mobi – We’d love to hear from you.
