Georgia School District Fleet Holds Top Spot for Third Year

Is the worst behind us when it comes to the nationwide school bus driver shortage?

That may well be the case, based on responses from participants in the 2023 School Bus Fleet Top District Fleets survey, which indicates that 62% of school districts are facing moderate to desperate levels vital personnel behind the wheel. That’s down 10% compared to 2022, and down 26% compared to 2021.

Gwinnett County, a Georgia school district that came in first place among responding districts in the survey, reports that it is fully staffed with bus drivers.

“We continue to recruit, hire, and train drivers year-round to ensure we always have the drivers we need, planning proactively for the turnover that we know will occur at certain times during the year,” says Charley Humble, Gwinnett’s transportation director. “Our transportation team has a dedicated recruiting department, and they work tirelessly to find new and innovative ways to reach potential applicants.”

What else does the survey tell us this year? Consider:

• Average starting pay across the country climbed to $21.84, up from $20.89 in 2022.
• The average salary for transportation directors was $85,993.67 this year.
• About a third of responding school districts indicated their transportation operations are unionized.
• Service levels are expected to increase or remain the same in most districts.
• Diesel buses appear to be purchased less often, while vehicles fueled by gasoline and alternatives increased.

Top 5 School Bus Fleets Based on Route Buses

RANK	DISTRICT	NO. OF ROUTE BUSES
1	Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools	1,636
2	Broward County (Fla.) Public Schools	980
3	Jefferson County (Ky.) Public Schools*	905
4	Hillsborough County (Fla.) Public Schools*	875
5	Dekalb County (Ga.) Public Schools*	870

* Latest available data

Top 5 School Bus Fleets Based on Ridership

RANK	DISTRICT	STUDENTS TRANSPORTED DAILY
1	Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools	130,000
2	Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (N.C.) Schools	105,000
3	Cypress-Fairbanks (Texas) Independent School District	86,000
4	Hillsborough County (Fla.) Public Schools*	86,000
5	Broward County (Fla.) Public Schools	73,000

*Latest available data.

Top 25 School District Fleets

RANK	DISTRICT	TOTAL SCHOOL BUSES	TOTAL IN DAILY ROUTE OPERATION	CONTRACTOR BUSES	STUDENTS TRANSPORTED	ANNUAL ROUTE MILEAGE
1	Gwinnett County (Lawrenceville, GA)	2,006	1,636	0	130,000	24,300,000
2	Broward County Schools (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)	1,468	980	0	73,000	16,250,321
3	Jefferson County (Louisville, KY)*	1,228	905	0	65,000	3,691,451
4	Dekalb County (Tucker, GA)*	1,150	870	0	67,000	12,234,054
5	Hillsborough County (Tampa, FL)*	1,108	875	0	86,000	16,500,000
6	Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Schools (Charlotte, NC)	1,061	836	0	105,000	22,000,000
7	Cypress-Fairbanks ISD (Cypress, TX)	1,028	661	0	86,000	10,000,000
8	Orange County Public Schools (Orlando, FL)	1,020	553	0	56,000	13,000,000
9	Polk County Public Schools (Bartow, FL)*	645	525	0	50,000	9,400,000
10	Greenville County (Taylors, SC)*	550	400	0	27,500	7,200,000
11	Cherokee County (Canton, GA)	483	372	0	24,361	4,900,000
12	Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge, LA)	440	400	0	43,000	1,921,500
13	Albequerque Public Schools (Albequerque, NM)	395	302	0	30,707	4,217,211
14	Garland ISD (Garland, TX)	393	299	0	17,000	4,400,000
15	St. Lucie Public Schools (Port St. Lucie, FL)	389	296	0	21,000	6,500,000
16	School District U-46 (Elgin, IL)*	350	300	0	25,000	4,500,000
17	Lake District Schools (Tavares, Fla.)*	325	240	0	18,079	5,100,000
18	Norfolk Public Schools (Norfolk, VA)*	323	149	0	7,960	1,409,497
19	Carroll County (Westminster, MD)*	311	256	0	19,000	5,300,000
20	Beaverton School District (Beaverton, OR)	305	207	0	23,793	2,382,384
21	Bossier Parish (Bossier City, LA)*	305	227	0	13,500	2,700,000
22	Plano ISD (Plano, TX)*	300	260	0	15,000	3,700,000
23	Mansfield ISD (Mansfield, TX)*	298	197	0	15,000	2,500,000
24	Evergreen Public Schools #114 (Vancouver, WA)*	292	245	0	11,500	2,750,000
25	Salem-Keizer (Salem, OR)	290	225	0	9,188	3,253,899

* Latest available data.

Average No. of Buses Per District

292

Average % of Buses Per District Used in Daily Route Operation

76%

Average % of Buses Per District Operated by Contractors

7%

Average Student Passengers Per District

8,611

Total Annual Route Miles Driven by Responding Districts

135,249,306

Average Annual Route Miles Driven by Responding Districts     

1,610,111

Average No. of Bus Drivers Per Responding District

97

Average Starting Hourly Pay for School Bus Drivers

$21.84

Get the full report in print and digital editions of November's School Bus Fleet magazine!