AUGUST 2024 SCHOOL BUS EMERGENCY 

Providing bus service has been highly problematic for many years.
Though the HIDOE and legislature have sought solutions, just days before school start
families have been shocked by the failure of the district to deliver bus service.
The situation is complex, so we have inquired with HI DOE and bus company leaders.
See a few suggested solutions and an overview below.

Here are links to news articles on the subject to see an overview and School Bus Handbook

Hawai‘i News Articles on School Bus Issues from 2011- 2024

HI DOE School Bus Handbook and Application

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

• Moving all school transportation to the public buses could expand public bus service as well as meeting school bus needs. With the funding now provided for school buses going to public buses, the move to electric could be accelerated. Public bus routes would need to be added so that school children would have time efficent rides without transfers. (Some parents would object to students riding public buses even if the routes are adjusted to go direct to schools. However, there are not any reported problems reported by students in the Hele-On or EXPRESS services.)

• Staggering elementary, middle and high school start times could spread drivers over more routes and make the job more appealing by increasing paid hours and decreasing the gap in the middle of the day. We have long known that middle and high schools students could work better if school started later given their changing biological clocks. (Some parents would object due to

• Hiring school bus drivers full time, delivering other services in schools so that they do not have an unpaid gap — such as cafeteria and study hall monitor.

• Obtaining more legislative funding of school buses supporting higher driver fees and enabling buses for more students, reducing private car traffic and costs. It would be better for traffic, the environment, family personal expenses if most children could ride buses (perhaps any children 1/2 mile from school or more rather than 1 mile and 1.5 miles)

• Developing a loan structure to support new entrants to the school bus field.

• Contracting with an alternative transport service as districts such as Colorado Springs School District 11 have worked with HopSkipDrive to Solve the Bus Driver Shortage. The approach uses a platform for managing and a process for certifying drivers to drive students. The aim is toreduce the number of bus routes, the # of drivers needed, and reduce time and fuel costs, by simplifying routes, having drivers handle individual or carpool routes from specific areas that tax the school bus system. This could be part of a transformed transportation ecosystem to support increasing attendance, reducing cost and disruption of family private car delivery of each kid, enable buses to serve more students. Additional Studies on RoutWise AI and Certified Driver cases.

OVERVIEW

Friday we were shocked to learn that that 147 school bus routes are temporarily canceled causing 3720 families and students to scramble for ways to get to school. Families struggle to make it to work with students needing transport to schools. Problems with bus service have contributed to attendance problems which threaten student momentum and success. Private cars for students create more traffic, pollution, and cost more than bus service.

About 25,000 of our 168,000 students rely on school buses – 12,000 on Oahu and 13,000 on neighbor islands. Before the pandemic 38,000 students relied on school buses. After the pandemic as companies became operational again, they had lost drivers. For the past 3 years some routes have been temporarily canceled.

In response to the sudden temporary cancellation, the governor issued a proclamation waiving some requirements enabling the companies to hire more drivers.The same proclamation was made last year when 78 routes were temporarily canceled.

We have been researching the difficult history of school buses serving Hawai‘i students, including the several bills none of whih made it through the legislature this year- each trying to solve serious problems with various solutions including staggered school schedules, conferring with the HI DOE, and reaching out to Roberts School Bus Co, and Ground Transport.

HI DOE OUTLOOK ON THE DURATION OF THE CANCELLED SERVICE 
We learned from the HI DOE that they expect 10-20% of the 147 canceled routes to be restored within two weeks and the balance to be restored by the end of first quarter. All 147 of the canceled routes are contracted to Ground Transport which now holds the contract for 10 complex areas. In fact the HIDOE was able to restore service to 1200 students by working with Roberts Bus Co. to take over routes or supply drivers to Ground Transport.

ROBERTS SCHOOL BUS COMPANY 
Roberts School Bus company, which previously was the majority bus provider, now is contracted to serve 5 complex areas. Roberts has more available drivers because they previously held more of the contracts and because they also run tour and charter divisions and can utilize drivers from the other divisions. Roberts told us that schools may ask them to take over routes temporarily until Ground Transport is able to hire enough drivers. Roberts has some drivers now with all the endorsements and given the governor’s proclamation, they have even more drivers who can now drive school buses. Roberts said that schools contracting directly with Roberts to cover the temporary cancellation would be able to return to the contracted service when it is available. We asked how they knew that, they said that was how it worked last year.

GROUND TRANSPORT 
Repeated calls to Ground Transport brought have not yet achieved contact with the owner, Louis Gomes, or any other executive.

UNDESIRABLE DRIVER JOB WITH REQUIREMENTS
There is a shortage of school bus drivers nationally due to the problematic small number of work hours per day with a gap in the middle, relatively low wages, and the challenge of dealing with busloads of students who sometimes are a bit unruly. These problems are exacerbated in Hawai‘i with the high cost of living making it hard for drivers to exist on the short hours. School bus drivers must complete training, and get “S -passenger endorsements” and “F – student endorsements” added to their drivers licenses.

LACK OF COMPETITION 
In 2011 Civil Beat noticed that there was a lack of competition on route bids. After a series of articles that pointed to possible irregularities in bidding, Roberts having the majority of the contracts, the FBI began an investigation. Roberts had bought up mom and pop providers whose operational costs were lower but still untenable for the small businesses given the high cost of warehousing the buses, and of the buses themselves, as well as the driver salaries.No irregularities were found in the FBI investigation, however there has been great consolidation of providers over the years. From 18 providers in 2004 to 6 awarded contracts this year with lmost all the routes and students going to two companies– Roberts and Ground Transport.Akita has one complex contract and three companies have contracts on Molokai.

PUBLIC BUSES
Fifteen years ago the legislature pushed the HI DOE to reduce bus costs and so the DOE cut school bus service in parts of Honolulu where students could use public buses. Hawaii island began a Hele-On collaboration to provide public bus service for middle and high school students.In 2022 HI DOE piloted “EXPRESS”, which stands for “Expanding Ridership to Educate Students in Schools,” aims to mitigate the impacts of the ongoing national school bus driver shortage. Last school year, over 18,000 students statewide applied for the program, with the majority of riders on Oahu. Some parents have reported that students taking public buses have long trips with transfers.