Special Needs Transportation

Explore best practices for safely and effectively transporting students with disabilities and special transportation needs. We cover accessibility, wheelchair securement, equipment, training, student behavior, regulations, and specialized transportation services.

Kelli Goterba, the 2026 Special-Needs Driver of the Year, stands with her arms crossed in front of a Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities school bus.

News

Kelli Goterba Named 2026 Special-Needs School Bus Driver of the Year

Through building trust with students and strengthening her transportation team, Goterba exemplifies the impact special-needs drivers can make.

Digital Cover Features

The Most Common Wheelchair Securement Mistakes on School Buses (and How to Fix Them)

A wheelchair user operates a school bus wheelchair lift equipped with BraunAbility’s LiftSentinel barrier system as another person stands nearby with a handheld control.

News

BraunAbility Introduces New Safety Barrier for Wheelchair Lifts

A close up image of a hand holding a phone with HopSkipDrive's platform and CareDriver information on the screen.

News

HopSkipDrive Launches New Safety, Driver Consistency Features for 2026-27 School Year

News•by Staff•February 3, 2012

Texas pupil transporter completes NAPT special-needs training

Debbie Jones, director of transportation at Columbia-Brazoria Independent School District, is the 18th person to complete the association’s Special Needs Transportation Training Program. The program has a core curriculum of six special-needs courses in a variety of settings.

News•by Staff•February 3, 2012

Durham honored for supporting Special Olympics chapter

The school bus contractor receives the Maggiano’s Hero Award from Special Olympics Illinois for its consistent volunteerism in the Windy City Rubber Ducky Derby, for providing buses and drivers for the Polar Plunge and the Law Enforcement Torch Run Plane Pull, and for collecting new sports equipment for Area 2 as part of its Christmas drive.

News•by Thomas McMahon•January 31, 2012

Students raise funds for much-needed bus

Project LIVE aims to take its special-needs students beyond the walls of their high school and into the community, but the program faced a challenge: It had no vehicle of its own to transport the students. Director Nicholas Slusser tells SBF about the tireless efforts to acquire a bus and to get it built and delivered ahead of schedule.

Articles•Cover Story•January 17, 2012

Heroes in school transportation 2012

In the second edition of this series, we highlight school bus drivers who saved lives with their quick thinking and vital skills. When danger arose, their training — and their instincts — came through.

Articles•January 10, 2012

Insight on timely topics

Speakers during the NAPT Summit discuss such issues as bullying, wheelchair use, training and alternative fuels. Attendees also see several new school buses.

News•by Staff•January 9, 2012

District to train special-ed students to use Metro

D.C. Public Schools and other city education leaders are identifying students who could be trained to take public transportation to school. The plan is designed to help reduce the $26,000-per-student annual cost of transporting them by school bus.

News•by Staff•January 9, 2012

New rooftop a/c condenser has low profile

At less than 10 inches tall, American Cooling Technology's CR-4 bus air-conditioning condenser unit increases roof clearance and eliminates the need to install a branch guard.

News•by Staff•January 5, 2012

School bus driver saves lost infant’s life

As Ricardo Martinez was covering a trip for the Anaheim (Calif.) City School District in October, he noticed a car swerving around something in the middle of the road. He drove a bit closer only to find it was a 15-month-old baby boy. Martinez talks about the incident with SBF.

News•by Staff•January 5, 2012

Longtime N.Y. state director retires

Marion Edick stepped down from her post as the state’s director of pupil transportation services on Dec. 30. During Edick’s tenure, physical performance tests for school bus drivers were implemented and several programs were developed through the $400,000 training fund, including master instructor trainings and continuation of the PDS program.

News•by Staff•January 5, 2012

Special-needs bus involved in crash

Investigators who respond to the incident believe that as pickup truck driver Angela Brown approached a traffic signal on a highway’s off-ramp, she failed to stop, smashing into the rear of a police-owned Ford Fusion, and then striking the rear of the school bus as she continued on. One student on the bus is treated for a minor injury.

Prev Next