School bus declines leaving strain on parents

Parents are having to take a larger role in getting their children to school over issues with buses, from driver shortages to bullying, leaving many employed caretakers in tough spots. 

In the 2025 State of School Transportation report, conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center in partnership with HopSkipDrive, 63 percent of parents say they are driving their kids to school, and only 43 percent say their kids use a school bus.  

Thirty-five percent said they had missed work due to dropping their kids off, around 3 in 10 said they have not taken opportunities due to their child’s transportation needs and 11 percent said they have lost their job over driving their students to school, according to the report released this month.  

A Federal Highway Administration survey concluded early last year showed even lower ridership numbers: Only 28 percent of U.S. students took a school bus in that poll, down from about 36 percent in 2017. 

“It really puts parents in a no-win situation where you're trying to do the right thing, you can't depend on transportation, or transportation is unreliable or unsafe, but at the same time, you're still trying to hold down a job so you can take care of your kids,” National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues said. 

Rodrigues said this academic year, it took until day four for her children to get on the bus. The first three days, it never showed up.  

“I had to take matters into my own hands, email the principal. ... I was in town, thankfully, I have a car, thankfully, I could Uber the kids if necessary. But not every parent has that ability,” she added. 

One of the biggest problems with school transportation is the school bus driver shortage that has been a problem for some districts for years.  

The shortage of school bus drivers has been an issue for years. The latest AP-NORC report found 80 percent of school administrators say it's a problem for them, and 46 percent say it's a major one. Of parents who drive their kids to school, 32 percent say buses aren't available in their area, compared to 20 percent who say it's easier to drive and 14 percent who cite safety concerns.

“There's a lot of unsupervised time for kids on buses, and that is when a lot of instances of bullying happened. Kids are put into very dangerous situations. So, I think parents actually have very deep concern about unsupervised time on buses," Rodgriues said.  

The driver shortages have been attributed to factors including a changing workforce, behavioral problems from students, licensing issues and problems with pay and scheduling, as drivers face rough hours with often underwhelming compensation.

“School-student transportation really varies by state, and it varies by state in terms of budgeting and the rules of that state. So, there are some states that if you live more than a mile away from a school district, you're eligible for transportation, and other districts that have larger or have a greater distance required for transportation,” said Molly McGee-Hewitt, executive director and CEO of the National Association for Pupil Transportation. 

“I think it is great when parents can drive their kids to school. I don't think it is the safest way for our students to get to school. I think all of the research shows that the yellow school bus is truly the safest form of student transportation,” she added.  

Some districts have outsourced the transportation responsibility to third-party companies such as HopSkipDrive, which collaborated with the AP and NORC Center on the latest report.

Joanna McFarland, CEO and co-founder of HopSkipDrive, said the company works with 13,000 school districts in 17 states on alternative transportation.  

“We help school districts by supplementing the school bus with small vehicle transportation, and we do that with a network of highly vetted caregivers on wheels that we call care drivers, who are parents, grandparents, nurses, babysitters, etc., people from the community that are helping get kids to and from school,” McFarland said.  

“We require care drivers to have caregiving experience. And, on average, caregiver drivers on our platform have more than 10 years of caregiving experience. So, these are drivers who are used to working with kids and who approach that with empathy,” she added. 

The lack of buses can mean kids miss out, too: 54 percent of parents in the report say they are more likely to sign up their children for more extracurricular activities if easier transportation options are available.  

“On time, reliable transportation is key,” Rodrigues said. “Number two, making sure the buses are safe places for kids.” 

“Adding additional personnel, adding cameras so that kids know that they're being monitored and that they're going to be held accountable for their behavior on the bus is really important [...] And then finally, communicating with parents and families,” she added. “Schools have to do better to listening to parents around why these situations are so problematic to the point where they've got to take it into their own hands and find their own solutions, which unfortunately, can mean severe consequences, like getting in trouble at work, and sometimes you can lose your job.”