What happens if and when funding falls short in 2026? Find out how districts are coping with budget gaps, policy shifts, and new pupil transportation demands.
As the driver shortage continues to ease across the U.S., additional pressures on school transportation teams are exacerbating the staffing gap. Inflation, tariff hikes, and rising costs across the board are hard pills to swallow when transportation budgets don’t increase at the same pace. Enter the frazzled transportation director feeling a financial pinch.
In Texas, Jonathan Pastusek, Northwest ISD's CFO, told CBS News that last year, the state allotted the district $3.5 million for transportation. It spent more than four times that. Other districts in the state reported that transportation’s allotment of funding covered as little as 12% of their costs. Lawmakers have sought to offer more, without success.
Bridgeport Public Schools made headlines after announcing changes to its transportation policy that increased the minimum walking distances for some students up to 2.5 miles before qualifying for a school bus. Service was restored in a cooperative effort after community concern around safety. The discussion likely rings familiar for many readers.
In Ohio, Columbus City Schools considered offering transit bus passes to high school students or even eliminating service for high schoolers entirely to save $5 million and redirect funds toward academics. It was rejected by its board, while reduced busing for K-8 students was approved, and four schools will close instead.
Ryan Kauffman, VP of sales at IC Bus, also called funding the top challenge he sees districts facing.
As an OEM, IC Bus is taking this concern seriously and asking what it can do to support operators just trying to do their jobs. The company plans on offering consultative selling through International Finance. “How can we bring down their maintenance costs, how can we do more predictive maintenance for them? Those are the things we're looking at here,” he said.
Alternative Modes of Transport
As districts continue to grapple with the driver shortage and budget shortfalls, some are poised to fill in the gaps. Aside from bus contractors and alternative transportation companies, a new mode is gaining popularity: ride-hailing and carpooling apps, just for student transportation.
Last summer, Hawaii piloted a new partnership with a school carpooling solution called GoKid. Designed to ease the burden on schools and help families, 14 schools are using the platform for the 2025–26 school year. The system connects families living near each other to coordinate carpools through a web and mobile app.
GoKid is already used in 10 states and Canada, often in areas with limited routes.
"If other school districts are experiencing this workforce challenge like Hawaiʻi, offering families more options is a way to help get students to school," said Megan Omura, student transportation administrator, Hawaiʻi State Department of Education.
Similar models are being approved in other states. In June 2025, Virginia approved rural school districts with less than 4,500 students to use non-school bus transportation methods. Ridesharing and carpooling services will now be allowed to supplement traditional school bus routes. It joins nine other states that have allowed similar deals.
A year earlier in New Jersey, lawmakers passed a bill allowing certain school personnel to transport students using private vehicles.
While these new models fill needed gaps, they also raise new concerns.
“Buses are built to withstand collisions in ways no passenger vehicle can,” Curt Macysyn, executive director of the National School Transportation Association (NSTA), told Stateline. “One bus takes 36 cars off the road, and drivers have specialized training you don’t get anywhere else. I haven’t seen another model that replicates all of those pieces.”
As far as the driver shortage, “I continue to say all student transportation is local,” Macysyn added, “and the local conditions dictate whether or not there is a ‘driver shortage.’”
Expanding Transportation to Charter & Private Schools
Another emerging trend and hot topic is the rise in transportation requests from charter and private schools. In some states, districts are legally required to provide the same level of transportation service to these students as they do for those in public school districts.
Of the 46 states and the District of Columbia with charter school laws, 17 states require transportation services for some charter school students, and just 33 allocate state transportation funding for them.
Last November, EverDriven noted charter school enrollment continuing to climb. Approximately 84% of states saw charter school enrollment growth outpace their school-aged populations. EverDriven itself saw charter school partnerships increase by 31% from 2024 to 2025, and by 173% over the past two years.
Assuming this trend continues, it could leave some charter school students without transportation, and in other areas, further strain public districts’ transportation resources, complicate routing, and exacerbate driver and budget shortages.
In Ohio, if public school districts don’t transport students who attend private and charter schools, they risk hefty fines (we’re talking up to millions of dollars). That means public school students are displaced from the school bus, raising safety concerns about how they get to school otherwise, often on public transportation.
At the 2025 NAPT conference, Peter Manella, the association’s public policy liaison, said that superintendent groups are worried that new state voucher programs could accelerate growth in private and charter schools and increase school choice. He warned that this shift could create added logistical burdens for transportation, requiring more drop-offs, more drivers, and more vehicles. “We see that as a challenge in education, and it could be a logistical challenge for us in transportation,” he said. “We're watching to see which states pick up on it.”
Industry consultant Alexandra Robinson also mentioned at NASDPTS that this trend could negatively affect students with severe medical fragilities or emotional disturbances who may soon face longer rides with more stops.
"Districts are facing a perfect storm of challenges," said EverDriven CEO Mitch Bowling. "From rising numbers of students experiencing housing instability or with special education requirements, to rapid charter school growth and new state regulations — schools are rethinking how they ensure every student's transportation needs are met."
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools calls on state policymakers and charter school advocates looking to remedy the lack of equitable access to transportation to re-examine how their laws address transportation responsibility and funding.
It’s too soon to say exactly how this will play out, making it a topic to watch.
Editor's Note: This article is part of our 2026 trends analysis exploring key issues to watch this year.
Check out the other articles in this series:
