The American Public Transportation Association estimates that transit buses provided over 1.2 billion student-related passenger trips in 1997. All indications are that this number is increasing and will continue to do so in the future. The National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services believes that the safest way to transport children to and from school and school-related activities is in a school bus. It is unlikely there will be sufficient increases in future education budgets of state and local school districts to allow all students to be transported to and from school in school buses. Therefore, parents and transportation professionals must recognize that alternative modes of transporting students to and from school are being used and the safety of students transported by these modes must not be compromised.
Some students ride transit buses to and from school out of necessity, others by choice.
Over the past decade, the number of students using public transportation has increased, and likely will continue to increase in the future. Accordingly, the State Directors Association strongly urges members of the pupil transportation and public transportation communities to join forces to mutually ensure the safe transportation of students on transit vehicles. Senator DeWine noted that there is a need to gather information on school bus operations and transit operations. The Safety Board further recommended that the U.S. Department of Transportation work with the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, the American Public Transit Association, and the Community Transportation Association of America to implement the findings of the accident data analyses. The technical data analysis is being completed under contract to the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute.