Last year, pondering what 2024 would bring, former SBF Editor Wes Platt wrote about electric bus hesitation, increased illegal passings, the continued driver shortage, and the FMCSA’s expected ruling on automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems. This year, we’re looking at more of the same, plus new issues on the rise.

For our January 2025 magazine feature, we selected five trends (with your help) that are most on transportation operators’ minds in 2025 to dig into where we’re at and where we’re going.

5 Trends Shaping the Discourse in 2025 

1. Bus Driver Shortage: Coming to a Close?

2. Bus Ridership Declines: How are Kids Getting to School?

3. Cloudy Future for Alternative Fuels

4. Tech & Telematics in Focus

5. School Bus Safety Issues in 2025

Of course, there is so much more we didn’t have room to touch on in these five articles linked above. We’ll be closely watching what happens with alternative transportation and ridership, federal funding, increased AI implementation, electric vehicle infrastructure, and more.

We hope to see data safeguarding measures to increase privacy and trust among tech providers, and more focus on trauma-informed, positive behavior reinforcement for students with special needs and behavioral challenges.

Alternative transportation provider EverDriven also predicts we will see parents and districts demanding more visibility in school transportation, data and machine learning becoming a cornerstone of transportation operations, advanced safety standards, rising demand for equity-focused transportation solutions, and budget constraints driving the need for operational efficiency.

As far as funding, the newest round of awardees for the EPA’s Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles grants were just announced, and the deadline for Clean School Bus funding closes Jan. 9.

We know some new federal rules are coming, with the FMCSA sharing details of the AEB requirement, speed limiters, ELDT training audits, and safety fitness procedures for contractors at the NASDPTS conference last November.

Many are relieved that the “under-the-hood” exemption for CDL testing has been renewed for school bus drivers for another two years. But Teena Mitchell, special needs coordinator and NAPT president, hopes that interest in a school bus-specific CDL is in the cards, too. 

In May with the first National Congress on School Transportation in 10 years, we expect to see a new round of specifications and best-practice recommendations coming, too.

Stay tuned to School Bus Fleet's website, magazine, YouTube, and enewsletter to stay abreast of more trends and analysis as the year unfolds. Thanks for riding with us.