20 S C H O O L B U S F L E E T • O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5

When it comes to the largest of the large school district fleets in the U.S., 2015 appears to have been a year of increase.

Four of the five biggest district fleets in SBF’s Top 100 School District Fleets list added route buses this year.

In the Top 100 list overall, there were more school districts that increased their number of route buses (33 districts) than those that decreased their number of route buses (25) or kept it the same (six) compared to 2014. (This only includes dis-tricts for which we were able to obtain current data this year and last year.)

The New York City Department of Education remains in the No. 1 spot with a fleet of 8,000 route buses that are all op-

erated by contractors. Los Angeles Unified School District stays at No. 2 with

1,743 district and contractor route buses.Gwinnett County Public Schools in Lawrenceville, Geor-

gia, which is No. 3 on the list, continues to hold the distinc-tion of operating the biggest entirely district-owned school bus fleet in the nation, with 1,653 route buses and 1,953 buses total.

Meanwhile, Dallas County Schools moved up to No. 4 with its fleet of 1,500 route buses — 55 more than last year.

New to the Top 100There are three school districts in this year’s Top 100 that

haven’t been on the list in past years:• San Francisco Unified School District entered at No.

94 with 200 route buses.• Sumner County Schools in Gallatin, Tennessee, came

in at No. 96 with 192 route buses.• Newton County Schools in Covington, Georgia,

joined the list at No. 99 with 178 route buses.

Should your district be on the list?Help us to be as comprehensive as possible in compil-

ing the Top 100 School District Fleets list. If your school district has about 150 or more school buses in route ser-vice (including any that are operated by contractors), you should be in the running for the Top 100.

Send an email to info@schoolbusfleet.com with your dis-trict’s name, number of route buses and contact informa-tion, and we’ll send you the questionnaire when we’re putting together the Top 100 list next year.

thomas.mcmahon@bobit.com

SBF’S TOP 100 SCHOOL DISTRICT FLEETS

The New York City Department of Education’s contractor-operated fleet continues to transport the most students daily: 163,000.

Top 5 in Ridership STUDENTS SCHOOL DISTRICT TRANSPORTED DAILY

1. New York City Department of Education. . . . . . . . . 163,000

2. Fairfax County (Va.) Public Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139,050

3. Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools. . . . . . . . . . . 130,000

4. Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) Schools . . . . . . . . . . 125,000

5. Clark County (Nev.) School District . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108,442

Four of the five largest school district fleets in the Top 100 added route buses this year. Overall, there were more districts that increased their number of route buses than those that decreased.

BY THOMAS MCMAHON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

The Biggest Fleets Get BiggerSponsored by

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21O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 • S C H O O L B U S F L E E T

1 New York City Department of Education 8,000 7,650 +350 9,500 5,700 3,835 9,500 163,000 n/a

New York City

2 Los Angeles Unified School District 1,743 1,739 +4 1,970 234 1,070 666 41,000 9,300,000

Los Angeles

3 Gwinnett County Public Schools 1,653 1,635 +18 1,953 625 1,328 0 130,000 23,500,000

Lawrenceville, Georgia

4 Dallas County Schools 1,500 1,445 +55 1,923 594 1,329 0 69,229 17,885,571

Dallas

5 Clark County School District 1,418 1,455 -37 1,719 6 1,713 0 108,442 22,552,529

Las Vegas

6 School District of Philadelphia* 1,283 1,283 0 1,411 283 1,128 900 38,000 14,700,000

Philadelphia

7 Chicago Public Schools 1,271 n/a n/a 1,483 400 1,083 1,483 22,182 7,459,768

Chicago

8 Montgomery County Public Schools 1,134 1,120 +14 1,286 0 1,286 0 103,000 19,000,000

Rockville, Maryland

9 Fairfax County Public Schools 1,117 n/a n/a 1,610 455 1,155 0 139,050 17,700,000

Fairfax, Virginia

10 Prince George’s County Public Schools 1,084 1,104 -20 1,251 23 1,228 4 85,000 19,605,431

Upper Marlboro, Maryland

11 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools 1,022 n/a n/a 1,122 56 1,066 0 125,000 n/a

Charlotte, North Carolina

12 School Board of Broward County 998 n/a n/a 1,254 75 1,179 0 73,287 16,300,000

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

13 Hillsborough County Public Schools 994 948 +46 1,428 0 1,428 0 87,000 16,900,000

Tampa, Florida

14 Cobb County School District 993 1,000 -7 1,218 0 1,218 0 80,000 13,000,000

Marietta, Georgia

15 Jefferson County Public Schools* 955 955 0 1,250 5 1,245 0 66,000 19,000,000

Louisville, Kentucky

16 Miami-Dade County Schools 952 1,013 -61 1,600 25 1,575 375 60,000 n/a

Miami

17 Houston Independent School District 950 922 +28 1,113 60 1,053 0 30,000 14,500,000

Houston

ROUTE ROUTE CHANGE TOTAL SMALL LARGE CONTRACTOR STUDENTS ANNUAL RANK SCHOOL DISTRICT BUSES BUSES 2015 VS. BUSES BUSES BUSES BUSES TRANSPORTED ROUTE 2015 2014 2014 DAILY MILEAGE

TOP 100 SCHOOL DISTRICT FLEETS OF 2015

*Most recent data available

22 S C H O O L B U S F L E E T • O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5

18 Orange County Public Schools 942 903 +39 1,085 8 1,077 0 69,291 18,200,000

Orlando, Florida

19 Milwaukee Public Schools* 903 903 0 940 480 460 940 54,000 14,000,000

Milwaukee

20 DeKalb County School District* 853 853 0 952 256 696 0 65,000 11,000,000

Tucker, Georgia

21 Duval County Public Schools* 851 851 0 949 0 949 949 50,000 9,000,000

Jacksonville, Florida

22 Baltimore County Public Schools 842 856 -14 1,001 253 748 112 71,431 14,789,694

Towson, Maryland

23 Prince William County Public Schools* 838 838 0 907 0 907 0 62,000 n/a

Manassas, Virginia

24 Fulton County Schools 772 760 +12 949 0 949 0 78,000 12,000,000

Atlanta

25 Columbus City Schools 750 734 +16 845 101 744 0 37,000 12,000,000

Columbus, Ohio

26 School District of Lee County 747 n/a n/a 841 171 677 8 57,900 12,500,000

Fort Myers, Florida

27 Northside Independent School District 705 765 -60 905 0 905 0 67,000 5,170,147

San Antonio

28 Pinellas County Schools* 700 700 0 842 0 842 0 46,000 16,000,000

Largo, Florida

29 Cypress-Fairbanks Ind. School District 695 669 +26 1,035 50 645 0 76,000 7,000,000

Houston

30 Buffalo City School District 684 699 -15 752 253 499 752 29,600 7,000,000

Buffalo, New York

31 Guilford County Schools 676 676 0 755 72 683 76 41,285 10,683,376

Greensboro, North Carolina

32 Boston Public Schools 666 664 +2 752 480 272 ** 30,000 9,500,000

Boston

33 School District of Palm Beach County* 630 630 0 852 0 852 0 58,000 13,000,000

West Palm Beach, Florida

34 Union County Educ. Svcs. Commission 600 550 +50 600 550 50 575 4,000 n/a

Westfield, New Jersey

ROUTE ROUTE CHANGE TOTAL SMALL LARGE CONTRACTOR STUDENTS ANNUAL RANK SCHOOL DISTRICT BUSES BUSES 2015 VS. BUSES BUSES BUSES BUSES TRANSPORTED ROUTE 2015 2014 2014 DAILY MILEAGE

TOP 100 SCHOOL DISTRICT FLEETS OF 2015

*Most recent data available**Buses owned by city, operated by contractor

23O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 • S C H O O L B U S F L E E T

35 Virginia Beach City Public Schools 598 612 -14 750 26 724 0 48,447 4,648,383

Virginia Beach, Virginia

36 Anne Arundel County Public Schools* 568 568 0 699 22 677 618 58,000 10,500,000

Annapolis, Maryland

37 Loudoun County Public Schools 564 n/a n/a 821 51 770 0 48,806 8,013,327

Ashburn, Virginia

38 Detroit Public Schools* 556 556 0 634 n/a n/a 260 18,000 n/a

Detroit

39 Omaha Public Schools* 536 536 0 599 264 335 335 15,600 7,007,197

Omaha, Nebraska

40 Polk County School District* 521 521 0 698 0 698 0 50,000 10,500,000

Bartow, Florida

41 Chesterfield County Public Schools 517 508 +9 620 0 503 0 45,138 9,000,000

Chesterfield, Virginia

42 Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools* 502 502 0 709 42 667 45 51,297 8,579,244

Nashville, Tennessee

43 Shelby County Schools 474 n/a n/a 497 35 462 497 39,000 9,500,000

Arlington, Tennessee

43 Henrico County Public Schools 474 440 +34 620 4 605 0 26,712 3,800,000

Richmond, Virginia

45 Lakewood Board of Education* 462 462 0 464 48 403 449 30,055 n/a

Lakewood, New Jersey

46 Howard County Public School System 453 440 +13 555 126 327 453 41,000 5,700,000

Ellicott City, Maryland

47 Cumberland County Schools* 440 440 0 484 4 436 0 27,500 n/a

Fayetteville, North Carolina

48 Harford County Public Schools 432 450 -18 495 96 336 380 35,000 8,000,000

Bel Air, Maryland

49 Mesa Public Schools* 430 430 0 541 290 251 0 63,707 n/a

Mesa, Arizona

50 Pasco County Schools 426 388 +38 445 10 435 0 36,000 8,100,000

Land O’ Lakes, Florida

51 Indianapolis Public Schools 422 413 +9 540 36 502 365 26,000 4,500,000

Indianapolis

ROUTE ROUTE CHANGE TOTAL SMALL LARGE CONTRACTOR STUDENTS ANNUAL RANK SCHOOL DISTRICT BUSES BUSES 2015 VS. BUSES BUSES BUSES BUSES TRANSPORTED ROUTE 2015 2014 2014 DAILY MILEAGE

Sponsored by

*Most recent data available

24 S C H O O L B U S F L E E T • O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5

52 Jefferson County Board of Education 400 400 0 484 3 481 0 20,000 4,250,000

Birmingham, Alabama

52 San Diego Unified School District 400 400 0 520 100 300 0 12,500 5,200,000

San Diego

52 Anoka-Hennepin School District 400 323 +77 422 99 265 422 34,000 6,300,000

Anoka, Minnesota

52 Greenville County Schools 400 356 +44 425 75 350 0 28,000 6,700,000

Taylors, South Carolina

56 Katy Independent School District 381 372 +9 535 0 381 0 25,000 3,586,672

Katy, Texas

57 Austin Independent School District 380 400 -20 510 195 315 0 22,000 5,800,000

Austin, Texas

58 Cherokee County School District 374 366 +8 423 1 373 0 28,000 4,500,000

Canton, Georgia

59 St. Paul Public Schools 368 320 +48 406 50 318 365 32,800 5,517,384

St. Paul, Minnesota

60 Fort Worth Independent School District* 362 362 0 478 25 453 0 16,535 6,085,994

Fort Worth, Texas

61 Conroe Independent School District 356 355 +1 515 n/a n/a 0 n/a n/a

Conroe, Texas

62 Seattle Public Schools 352 366 -14 405 194 158 368 16,750 4,247,197

Seattle

62 Seminole County Public Schools 352 364 -12 453 0 453 0 32,000 7,500,000

Winter Springs, Florida

64 Brevard Public Schools 350 354 -4 497 0 497 0 25,000 6,100,000

Viera, Florida

65 Frederick County Public Schools 339 343 -4 429 64 275 0 29,490 6,935,123

Frederick, Maryland

65 Clayton County Public Schools* 339 339 0 423 133 290 0 27,226 n/a

Jonesboro, Georgia

67 Caddo Parish Public Schools* 337 337 0 363 0 363 0 22,000 n/a

Shreveport, Louisiana

68 Atlanta Public Schools 332 n/a n/a 400 5 395 0 23,000 4,423,681

Atlanta

ROUTE ROUTE CHANGE TOTAL SMALL LARGE CONTRACTOR STUDENTS ANNUAL RANK SCHOOL DISTRICT BUSES BUSES 2015 VS. BUSES BUSES BUSES BUSES TRANSPORTED ROUTE 2015 2014 2014 DAILY MILEAGE

TOP 100 SCHOOL DISTRICT FLEETS OF 2015

*Most recent data available

25O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 • S C H O O L B U S F L E E T

69 Fort Bend Independent School District* 330 330 0 464 104 360 0 30,000 n/a

Missouri City, Texas

70 School District U-46 315 292 +23 354 164 190 0 26,000 4,500,000

Elgin, Illinois

71 Newport News Public Schools 305 n/a n/a 337 0 337 0 24,500 4,700,848

Newport News, Virginia

72 Denver Public Schools 300 322 -22 404 38 366 0 19,500 3,800,000

Denver

73 Spotsylvania County Public Schools 296 307 -11 361 4 292 0 21,534 4,875,059

Fredericksburg, Virginia

74 North East Independent School District 295 315 -20 452 108 344 0 26,500 3,500,000

San Antonio

75 Shelby County Schools 284 n/a n/a 320 27 293 0 21,196 2,376,720

Columbiana, Alabama

76 Sarasota County Schools 278 250 +28 370 0 370 0 18,000 5,300,000

Sarasota, Florida

77 Portland Public Schools 269 n/a n/a 328 192 136 235 8,622 3,100,000

Portland, Oregon

78 Cherry Creek School District #5 268 271 -3 296 14 282 0 22,528 2,844,179

Greenwood Village, Colorado

79 Muscogee County School District 265 271 -6 300 30 235 0 17,500 2,268,540

Columbus, Georgia

80 Caroll County Public Schools 263 n/a n/a 330 80 250 328 25,863 5,100,000

Westminster, Maryland

81 Central Bucks School District 257 250 +7 330 49 281 190 19,593 4,000,000

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

82 Collier County Public Schools 254 252 +2 354 83 271 0 21,000 4,843,902

Naples, Florida

83 Hanover County Public Schools 250 258 -8 306 10 296 0 15,800 2,500,000

Mechanicsville, Virginia

84 Rapides Parish Schools 245 n/a n/a 287 40 247 0 18,650 1,300,000

Alexandria, Louisiana

85 Douglas County School System 239 243 -4 326 44 282 0 15,500 3,160,000

Douglasville, Georgia

ROUTE ROUTE CHANGE TOTAL SMALL LARGE CONTRACTOR STUDENTS ANNUAL RANK SCHOOL DISTRICT BUSES BUSES 2015 VS. BUSES BUSES BUSES BUSES TRANSPORTED ROUTE 2015 2014 2014 DAILY MILEAGE

Sponsored by

*Most recent data available

26 S C H O O L B U S F L E E T • O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5

86 Norfolk Public Schools 238 238 0 319 10 309 0 12,257 2,174,114

Norfolk, Virginia

87 Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. 231 241 -10 303 20 283 57 16,215 1,600,000

Evansville, Indiana

88 Salem-Keizer Public Schools 230 230 0 275 21 252 2 20,000 3,000,000

Salem, Oregon

89 Houston County Schools 225 212 +13 253 30 223 0 14,206 2,200,000

Warner Robins, Georgia

90 Volusia County Schools 221 219 +2 349 2 347 0 25,000 4,252,358

DeLand, Florida

91 Evergreen Public Schools 217 211 +6 255 98 157 0 24,500 2,120,000

Vancouver, Washington

92 Spring Independent School District 204 213 -9 282 0 282 0 17,500 2,800,000

Houston

92 Greece Central School District 204 203 +1 228 76 138 11 10,500 3,000,000

Rochester, New York

94 San Francisco Unified School District 200 n/a n/a 250 170 29 250 3,500 n/a

San Francisco

95 Rockingham County Public Schools 194 207 -13 263 0 263 0 n/a n/a

Harrisonburg, Virginia

96 Sumner County Schools 192 n/a n/a 235 15 220 0 18,384 2,350,000

Gallatin, Tennessee

97 Boulder Valley School District 185 190 -5 260 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Boulder, Colorado

98 Clear Creek Independent School District 179 179 0 293 73 220 0 17,000 2,740,761

League City, Texas

99 Newton County Schools 178 n/a n/a 211 28 150 0 13,680 4,777,500

Covington, Georgia

100 Kansas City Public Schools 157 140 +17 254 22 232 254 10,465 3,198,315

Kansas City, Missouri

ROUTE ROUTE CHANGE TOTAL SMALL LARGE CONTRACTOR STUDENTS ANNUAL RANK SCHOOL DISTRICT BUSES BUSES 2015 VS. BUSES BUSES BUSES BUSES TRANSPORTED ROUTE 2015 2014 2014 DAILY MILEAGE

TOP 100 SCHOOL DISTRICT FLEETS OF 2015

27O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 • S C H O O L B U S F L E E T

Anne Arundel County Public Schools* Annapolis, Maryland 10,500,000 568 18,486 n/a n/a n/a

Anoka-Hennepin School District Anoka, Minnesota 6,300,000 400 15,750 $14.75 Moderate Yes

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta 4,423,681 332 13,324 $16.11 None Yes

Austin Independent School District Austin, Texas 5,800,000 380 15,263 n/a n/a n/a

Baltimore County Public Schools Towson, Maryland 14,789,694 842 17,565 $12.55 Severe Yes

Boston Public Schools Boston 9,500,000 666 14,264 $23.00 None Yes

Boulder Valley School District Boulder, Colorado n/a 185 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Brevard Public Schools Viera, Florida 6,100,000 350 17,429 n/a n/a n/a

Buffalo City School District Buffalo, New York 7,000,000 684 10,234 $14.50 Moderate Yes

Caddo Parish Public Schools* Shreveport, Louisiana n/a 337 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Caroll County Public Schools Westminster, Maryland 5,100,000 263 19,392 n/a Mild No

Central Bucks School District Doylestown, Pennsylvania 4,000,000 257 15,564 $20.35 Mild Yes

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Charlotte, North Carolina n/a 1,022 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Cherokee County School District Canton, Georgia 4,500,000 374 12,032 n/a n/a n/a

Cherry Creek School District #5 Greenwood Village, Colorado 2,844,179 268 10,613 $15.24 Desperate Yes

Chesterfield County Public Schools Chesterfield, Virginia 9,000,000 517 17,408 $13.19 Mild No

Chicago Public Schools Chicago 7,459,768 1,271 5,869 n/a n/a n/a

Clark County School District Las Vegas 22,552,529 1,418 15,904 n/a n/a n/a

Clayton County Public Schools* Jonesboro, Georgia n/a 339 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Clear Creek Independent School District League City, Texas 2,740,761 179 15,312 n/a n/a n/a

Cobb County School District Marietta, Georgia 13,000,000 993 13,092 n/a n/a n/a

Collier County Public Schools Naples, Florida 4,843,902 254 19,070 n/a n/a n/a

Columbus City Schools Columbus, Ohio 12,000,000 750 16,000 $17.00 Moderate Yes

Conroe Independent School District Conroe, Texas n/a 356 n/a $15.40 Moderate Yes

Cumberland County Schools* Fayetteville, North Carolina n/a 440 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Cypress-Fairbanks Ind. School District Houston 7,000,000 695 10,072 $16.25 Severe Yes

Dallas County Schools Dallas 17,885,571 1,500 11,924 $15.50 Severe No

DeKalb County School District* Tucker, Georgia 11,000,000 853 12,896 n/a n/a n/a

Denver Public Schools Denver 3,800,000 300 12,667 $15.09 Moderate Yes

Detroit Public Schools* Detroit n/a 556 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Douglas County School System Douglasville, Georgia 3,160,000 239 13,222 $15.12 Severe No

Duval County Public Schools* Jacksonville, Florida 9,000,000 851 10,576 n/a n/a n/a

Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. Evansville, Indiana 1,600,000 231 6,926 $13.70 Moderate Yes

Evergreen Public Schools Vancouver, Washington 2,120,000 217 9,770 n/a n/a n/a

ROUTE DATA DRIVER INFO

ANNUAL NUMBER ROUTE STARTING DRIVERS SCHOOL DISTRICT CITY ROUTE OF ROUTE MILEAGE HOURLY PAY DRIVER BELONG TO MILEAGE BUSES PER BUS FOR DRIVERS SHORTAGE UNION?

*Most recent data available

TOP 100 ADDITIONAL DATA

28 S C H O O L B U S F L E E T • O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5

TOP 100 ADDITIONAL DATA

Fairfax County Public Schools Fairfax, Virginia 17,700,000 1,117 15,846 $18.63 Mild No

Fort Bend Independent School District* Missouri City, Texas n/a 330 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Fort Worth Independent School District* Fort Worth, Texas 6,085,994 362 16,812 n/a n/a n/a

Frederick County Public Schools Frederick, Maryland 6,935,123 339 20,458 $15.68 Moderate Yes

Fulton County Schools Atlanta 12,000,000 772 15,544 $15.85 Mild No

Greece Central School District Rochester, New York 3,000,000 204 14,706 $13.75 Moderate Yes

Greenville County Schools Taylors, South Carolina 6,700,000 400 16,750 $13.00 Moderate No

Guilford County Schools Greensboro, North Carolina 10,683,376 676 15,804 n/a n/a n/a

Gwinnett County Public Schools Lawrenceville, Georgia 23,500,000 1,653 14,217 $14.49 Moderate No

Hanover County Public Schools Mechanicsville, Virginia 2,500,000 250 10,000 $13.80 Mild No

Harford County Public Schools Bel Air, Maryland 8,000,000 432 18,519 $20.20 Mild No

Henrico County Public Schools Richmond, Virginia 3,800,000 474 8,017 $12.94 Moderate No

Hillsborough County Public Schools Tampa, Florida 16,900,000 994 17,002 $12.21 Moderate Yes

Houston County Schools Warner Robins, Georgia 2,200,000 225 9,778 $14.51 Moderate No

Houston Independent School District Houston 14,500,000 950 15,263 $15.70 Moderate No

Howard County Public School System Ellicott City, Maryland 5,700,000 453 12,583 $16.00 Moderate No

Indianapolis Public Schools Indianapolis 4,500,000 422 10,664 n/a n/a n/a

Jefferson County Board of Education Birmingham, Alabama 4,250,000 400 10,625 n/a n/a n/a

Jefferson County Public Schools* Louisville, Kentucky 19,000,000 955 19,895 n/a n/a n/a

Kansas City Public Schools Kansas City, Missouri 3,198,315 157 20,371 n/a n/a n/a

Katy Independent School District Katy, Texas 3,586,672 381 9,414 n/a n/a n/a

Lakewood Board of Education* Lakewood, New Jersey n/a 462 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles 9,300,000 1,743 5,336 $15.46 Moderate Yes

Loudoun County Public Schools Ashburn, Virginia 8,013,327 564 14,208 n/a n/a n/a

Mesa Public Schools* Mesa, Arizona n/a 430 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools* Nashville, Tennessee 8,579,244 502 17,090 n/a n/a n/a

Miami-Dade County Schools Miami n/a 952 n/a $11.41 Severe Yes

Milwaukee Public Schools* Milwaukee 14,000,000 903 15,504 n/a n/a n/a

Montgomery County Public Schools Rockville, Maryland 19,000,000 1,134 16,755 $16.61 None Yes

Muscogee County School District Columbus, Georgia 2,268,540 265 8,561 $14.20 Severe No

New York City Department of Education New York City n/a 8,000 n/a n/a None Yes

Newport News Public Schools Newport News, Virginia 4,700,848 305 15,413 $11.61 Moderate No

Newton County Schools Covington, Georgia 4,777,500 178 26,840 $16.47 Mild No

Norfolk Public Schools Norfolk, Virginia 2,174,114 238 9,135 $12.70 Mild No

ROUTE DATA DRIVER INFO

ANNUAL NUMBER ROUTE STARTING DRIVERS SCHOOL DISTRICT CITY ROUTE OF ROUTE MILEAGE HOURLY PAY DRIVER BELONG TO MILEAGE BUSES PER BUS FOR DRIVERS SHORTAGE UNION?

*Most recent data available

29O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 • S C H O O L B U S F L E E T

North East Independent School District San Antonio 3,500,000 295 11,864 $12.28 Moderate Yes

Northside Independent School District San Antonio 5,170,147 705 7,334 $13.14 Desperate No

Omaha Public Schools* Omaha, Nebraska 7,007,197 536 13,073 n/a n/a n/a

Orange County Public Schools Orlando, Florida 18,200,000 942 19,321 $12.00 Mild Yes

Pasco County Schools Land O’ Lakes, Florida 8,100,000 426 19,014 $12.36 Severe Yes

Pinellas County Schools* Largo, Florida 16,000,000 700 22,857 n/a n/a n/a

Polk County School District* Bartow, Florida 10,500,000 521 20,154 n/a n/a n/a

Portland Public Schools Portland, Oregon 3,100,000 269 11,524 $14.36 Severe Yes

Prince George’s County Public Schools Upper Marlboro, Maryland 19,605,431 1,084 18,086 n/a n/a n/a

Prince William County Public Schools* Manassas, Virginia n/a 838 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Rapides Parish Schools Alexandria, Louisiana 1,300,000 245 5,306 $22.50 Desperate No

Rockingham County Public Schools Harrisonburg, Virginia n/a 194 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Salem-Keizer Public Schools Salem, Oregon 3,000,000 230 13,043 $13.70 Moderate Yes

San Diego Unified School District San Diego 5,200,000 400 13,000 $19.98 Desperate Yes

San Francisco Unified School District San Francisco n/a 200 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Sarasota County Schools Sarasota, Florida 5,300,000 278 19,065 n/a n/a n/a

School Board of Broward County Fort Lauderdale, Florida 16,300,000 998 16,333 n/a n/a n/a

School District of Lee County Fort Myers, Florida 12,500,000 747 16,734 $14.01 Moderate Yes

School District of Palm Beach County* West Palm Beach, Florida 13,000,000 630 20,635 n/a n/a n/a

School District of Philadelphia* Philadelphia 14,700,000 1,283 11,458 n/a n/a n/a

School District U-46 Elgin, Illinois 4,500,000 315 14,286 $18.48 Mild Yes

Seattle Public Schools Seattle 4,247,197 352 12,066 n/a n/a n/a

Seminole County Public Schools Winter Springs, Florida 7,500,000 352 21,307 n/a n/a n/a

Shelby County Schools Arlington, Tennessee 9,500,000 474 20,042 n/a n/a n/a

Shelby County Schools Columbiana, Alabama 2,376,720 284 8,369 n/a n/a n/a

Spotsylvania County Public Schools Fredericksburg, Virginia 4,875,059 296 16,470 n/a n/a n/a

Spring Independent School District Houston 2,800,000 204 13,725 $15.05 Moderate No

St. Paul Public Schools St. Paul, Minnesota 5,517,384 368 14,993 n/a n/a n/a

Sumner County Schools Gallatin, Tennessee 2,350,000 192 12,240 $12.00 Moderate No

Union County Educ. Svcs. Commission Westfield, New Jersey n/a 600 n/a $15.78 None No

Virginia Beach City Public Schools Virginia Beach, Virginia 4,648,383 598 7,773 $13.02 Moderate No

Volusia County Schools DeLand, Florida 4,252,358 221 19,241 $11.11 Moderate Yes

ROUTE DATA DRIVER INFO

ANNUAL NUMBER ROUTE STARTING DRIVERS SCHOOL DISTRICT CITY ROUTE OF ROUTE MILEAGE HOURLY PAY DRIVER BELONG TO MILEAGE BUSES PER BUS FOR DRIVERS SHORTAGE UNION?

*Most recent data available

30 S C H O O L B U S F L E E T • O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5

SBF TOP 100 NEWS

transportation costs far outpacing those at other large urban districts.

The average cost for the Chicago dis-trict to transport a student is more than triple the median cost for districts with more than 100,000 students, according to data from the Council of Great City Schools. Chicago pays an average of $4,450 per student for transportation.

The district’s bell time changes are part of a broader $200 million in cuts to central office, operations and pro-gramming.

CHICAGO — Forty-eight schools here have adopted new bell times as part of a Chicago Public Schools plan that is expected to cut transportation costs by $5 million.

The plan originally had 82 schools shifting their bell times for a savings of $9 million, but the district agreed to re-vert the bell times at 34 of those schools after hearing concerns about the changes from families and educators.

“By engaging principals and learn-ing about the many unintended con-sequences the changing bell times caused, we decided to rescind those changes that had a negative impact on schools,” said Frank Clark, president of the Chicago Board of Education. “These changes reflect a collaborative ap-proach that both appreciates our fiscal challenges but still puts children first.”

Forty schools adopted the new times, and eight schools agreed to another change. The rest of the district’s 664 schools will keep the bell times they had in the previous school year.

Chicago Public Schools officials said that district staff members worked with principals from each affected school to develop a schedule that would maximize savings while addressing the needs of the school communities.

Chicago’s school bell time changes expected to save $5 millionBY THOMAS MCMAHON

Lincoln Park High is one of 48 schools that have adopted new bell times in a Chicago Public Schools plan to cut transportation costs.

Broward saves over $600K with propane school busesFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A recent analysis found that the Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) transportation de-partment reduced its annual operating costs by more than $600,000 by using propane autogas-powered school buses, according to ROUSH CleanTech.

BCPS began using 98 Blue Bird Propane Vision buses in the 2014-15 school year. ROUSH CleanTech is the manufacturer of the engine fuel system for the buses.

“Providing safe and efficient transportation for our students is always our priority,” BCPS Superintendent Robert W. Runcie said. “The fuel and maintenance savings from our buses using propane autogas has allowed us to reduce our expenses for transporting students to and from school.”

The district paid an average of $1.32 per gallon for propane and $2.75 for diesel over the last year. In addition to fuel sav-ings, annual maintenance costs for the alternative-fuel buses amounted to 80% less than for the district’s diesel buses.

BCPS operates 1,254 school buses, including the 98 fueled by propane autogas. The buses travel an average of 16,500 miles per year, transporting a total of about 73,000 students.

BCPS expects to save more than $74,000 in operating costs over the 12-year lifecycle of each propane autogas bus, which equates to a savings of 38 cents per mile.

“After researching the direction of school bus transportation, we decided propane was the best fit and the best use of tax-payer dollars,” said Patricia Snell, director of student transpor-tation and fleet services for BCPS. “We’ve been thrilled with the savings, as well as the performance of the buses.”

BCPS budgeted for a six-month return on investment of the initial propane engine upcharge, but succeeded in recouping that cost in three months. The buses had an incremental cost of less than 3% more than their diesel counterparts, ROUSH CleanTech officials said.

In addition to bottom-line savings, the district’s propane bus

“Every dollar we save by staggering school bell times and streamlining transportation services next school year is one more dollar we don’t have to cut from our classrooms,” said Forrest Clay-pool, CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

The district is facing a $1.1 bil-lion operating deficit due to declin-ing state educational funding and a broken pension system, officials said. The plan to stagger bus arrival times stemmed from an analysis that showed Chicago Public Schools’

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SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Uni-fied School District (SFUSD) will contin-ue its partnership with First Student with a new five-year contract, which started with the 2015-16 school year.

As part of the agreement, First Stu-dent is replacing the district’s current fleet of 230 vehicles. New school buses were to begin transporting SFUSD stu-dents this fall.

SFUSD has worked with First Student for more than 45 years, according to the company.

“We have been proud to serve gen-

San Francisco renews contract with First Student

31O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 • S C H O O L B U S F L E E T

ATLANTA — Atlanta Public Schools bus drivers con-ducted a practice run on all of the district’s bus routes on July 29.

The practice run, which took place from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., was part of the district’s preparation for the first day of school, which was Aug. 5.

Atlanta Public Schools officials said that the purpose of the practice run is for school bus drivers to become famil-iar with their routes, to improve accuracy of timing during current traffic patterns, and to estimate the pickup and drop-off schedules for students.

The district advised motorists to be aware that school bus drivers would run their routes in real time, making stops, dropping bus arms and opening doors across At-lanta during morning and afternoon rush hours.

In other news, Atlanta Public Schools is launching stop-arm cameras on its buses this school year. The project, an-nounced earlier this year, is a partnership with the Atlanta Police Department and American Traffic Solutions.

The district started the new school year with American Traffic Solutions’ CrossingGuard technology on school bus routes that have been identified as having a high num-ber of stop-arm violations.

“Ensuring that motorists follow the law when students are being loaded and unloaded from our school buses is a vital safety concern,” said John Franklin, Atlanta Public Schools’ executive director of transportation. “With the implementation of these cameras, instances of motorists passing school buses while the stop arm is out and the red lights are flashing are expected to decrease.”

Atlanta Public Schools buses transport 23,000 students to and from school, traveling nearly 22,000 miles daily.

Atlanta conducts practice run, launches stop-arm camerasBY THOMAS MCMAHON1,500 Orange County staffers take

part in training conferenceORLANDO, Fla. — More than 1,500 transportation employees prepared for the new school year in Orange County Public Schools’ fall training conference.

The weeklong program kicked off on Aug. 17 with pre-sentations on such topics as driving safety, raising security awareness, and improving external and internal customer service. The keynote presentation was given by nationally recognized customer service expert Teri Yanovitch.

Staff from the newly formed Orange County Public Schools Police Department discussed ways to improve work-place security and how to be more vigilant in identifying sus-picious packages and activities while on the road.

Other topics that were covered during the training confer-ence included bullying, pedestrian and bicycle safety, school bus evacuation, stress management and ways to improve nutrition.

District officials said that drivers and monitors also pre-pared their buses, called parents and conducted dry runs during the scheduled route times to minimize any surpris-es when school started the following week.

Orange County Public Schools operates more than 900 school buses daily, transporting about 70,000 students.

Orange County (Fla.) Public Schools prepared for the new school year with a week of training on such topics as driving safety, secu-rity awareness and customer service.

erations of families in the San Francisco community,” said Susan Moorehead, First Student area general manager. “We thank the district for its continued trust in our services and look forward to working together to ensure SFUSD students have a safe and reliable way to get to and from school for many years to come.”

Moorehead has been working with SFUSD for more than 40 years. She joined First Student in 1974 as a driver for the district. In her current role, Moorehead is responsible for the overall

performance of 13 First Student loca-tions in Northern California, including San Francisco.

“Susan has been instrumental to our success in San Francisco,” said Liz San-chez, First Student senior vice president. “We believe that great transportation is always the result of close partnerships. Susan and her team have truly delivered on our promise to care for students today, tomorrow, together.”

First Student transports about 3,500 SFUSD students daily and operates about 200 routes for the district.

fleet emits 153,000 fewer pounds of nitrogen oxide and 3,100 fewer pounds of particulate matter each year compared to the diesel buses they replaced, according to ROUSH CleanTech.

The district ordered 37 more propane buses for the 2015-16 school year.

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SBF TOP 100 NEWS

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Greenville County Schools recently recognized 46 school bus drivers and aides for perfect at-tendance in the entire 2014-15 school year.

The drivers and aides were honored at the district’s August in-service meetings, and they got to take part in drawings for gift cards and prizes, which were donated by local sponsors.

Greenville also recognizes bus staff for perfect atten-dance each quarter of the school year. Along with earn-ing coupons for free items (food, drinks, etc.), these driv-ers and aides get a certificate signed by the director of transportation, and their names are displayed on a sign in each of the district’s bus centers.

“We are constantly seeking ways to motivate and reward our drivers and aides,” said Teena Mitchell, Greenville’s manager of special-needs transportation. “Our drivers and aides seem to enjoy and look forward to the freebies and are proud that their names are posted in the bus centers.”

Perfect-attendance driver Gayle Hilton concurred: “It means more to me than a raise when my supervisor or manager recognizes the job I do and the effort I put forth.”

To see the full list of Greenville drivers and aides who had perfect attendance in 2014-15, go to schoolbusfleet.com/GreenvillePerfect.

Greenville honors drivers, aides for perfect attendanceBY THOMAS MCMAHON

Cypress-Fairbanks buses get GPS,ID readersHOUSTON — Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (ISD) launched two major technological components for the new school year that are expected to enhance and streamline school bus service.

After recently adding 111 new low-emission buses and upgrad-ed camera systems, all of the district’s buses now include GPS transmitters in an effort to increase efficiency, improve parental communication and enhance student safety. Also, nearly half of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD students will receive identification cards.

“GPS-enabled buses will make it possible for us to pinpoint bus locations in real-time, all the time,” said Matt Morgan, as-sistant superintendent of support services. “Campus leaders can use this to efficiently manage pickup and drop-off procedures at each school.”

Transportation staff members can also use the GPS data to monitor bus idle time, routing information, miles per gallon and miles per hour of each bus.

The identification cards will enable campus and security per-sonnel to quickly identify students who belong on their cam-pus. School buses will be equipped with ID card readers, which will record the time and location of each student’s boarding and departure.

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD is utilizing Zonar’s Z Pass application, which works on a variety of platforms and is free for parents.

“This allows parents to receive text notifications whenever their child taps the reader getting on or off of the bus,” Morgan said. “Text notifications will include the time and location of pickup or drop-off.”

Parents also can log in from a desktop computer or tablet to get notifications. The computer application displays a map of the physical location of the pickup or drop-off.

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD officials said that the ID cards will also increase the efficiency of the district’s nutrition services depart-ment. The cards will enable child nutrition workers to quickly access student accounts while avoiding the need to type in a six-digit identification code.

School libraries will utilize the same scanning technology to allow students to quickly check out books.

Half of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD schools implemented the new technology this fall. Morgan said that additional schools will be phased in during the spring semester.

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD transports 76,000 students daily on 695 route buses.

Erika Davis, a driver for Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, uses the newly installed GPStransmitter on her bus.

First-grader Matthew Millenas taps an ID card to a reader on his school bus, logging the time and location that he boarded the bus.

These three photos show school bus drivers and aides at Greenville County Schools who didn’t miss a day in the entire 2014-15 school year.

33O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 • S C H O O L B U S F L E E T

rived once again at Hilltop for what he thought was a surprise birthday party for one of his old co-workers.

Instead, it was a belated graduation party and barbeque for him. And not one of his old co-workers missed it.

The team presented Mata with a bright red tool case, filled with car repair and maintenance tools of his own.

“I just want to say thank you,” Mata said to the DPS team. “Without this, without you guys during my intern-ship, I probably wouldn’t have gradu-ated high school. I probably would’ve given up on it. You made sure that I didn’t.”

DENVER — Just a couple of years ago, Alex Mata wasn’t sure that high school was worth the effort.

“Four years of studying, hard work ... it’s tough,” Mata said. “My mom never had the opportunity to graduate high school, so I wasn’t sure I could do it.”

That changed when Mata signed up to intern at the Denver Public Schools (DPS) transportation services Hilltop Terminal, where DPS team members manage everything from bus fleet main-tenance to coordinating the school sys-tem’s hundreds of daily routes.

Mata quickly learned that his team-mates at Hilltop were more than casual co-workers.

“They taught me how to do everything that a diesel mechanic would do,” he said. “But even moreso, when I was hav-ing trouble with my math homework, they would stop what they were doing to help me out.”

As the team’s relationship with Mata grew stronger, the Hilltop Terminal invit-ed him back on for a second term in the summer following his first internship.

Mata was elated. Even after his second internship ended, he still visited the Hill-top Terminal to meet with his friends.

Years later, as he approached his high school graduation from CEC Middle College of Denver, he invited his “work family” to see him graduate. But due to the timing of bus routes and critical daily maintenance tasks, most of Mata’s Hill-top colleagues were unable to attend his graduation.

“Alex is family,” said Ken Harris, fleet supervisor at DPS transporta-tion. “Because of that, we wanted to surprise him.”

On a Friday afternoon, Mata ar-

Denver transportation internship helps student succeed BY BEN MCKEE

Oregon’s Salem-Keizer Public Schools recently replaced a third of its fleet by buying 80 new buses and surplussing old ones. Here, driver/fueler Eddie Dixon prepares an old bus to leave the fleet.

Salem-Keizer’s year in pictures

During Alex Mata’s internship with Denver Public Schools transpor-tation, team mem-bers taught him about bus main-tenance and even helped him with his homework.

Another project for Salem-Keizer in the past year was repaving its drive path and bus wash area.

The Salem-Keizer transportation department also held fundraisers during the last school year. Here, Field Coordi-nator Robine Splonski and her daughter Sara cook breakfast during a fundraiser.

The transportation team takes steps to prepare for winter driving. Here, driver Bill Neifert installs snow chains on a bus tire.

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