LANSDALE, Pa. — The National School Transportation Association (NSTA) has announced that it is canceling its annual summer conference and safety competition, which had been scheduled for July, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an email to its members last week, the NSTA said that over the last two week it became clear that hosting the 2020 NSTA Annual Meeting and Convention and the School Bus Driver International Safety Competition, which were to be held from July 18 to 22 in Niagara Falls, N.Y., “was becoming increasingly unfeasible.”

“The availability of participants, competitors, attendees, sponsors, and speakers to be able to travel cannot be confirmed at this point, and the ability of the industry to take time away from operations has become increasingly less likely as well,” the association said in the email.

Most, if not all states, the NSTA added, have canceled their safety competitions, which cuts down on or eliminates the pool of competitors for the School Bus Driver International Safety Competition.

“Like you, we are deeply dismayed, but accepting, of this unfortunate reality,” the NSTA said.

This would have been the 50-year anniversary of the School Bus Driver International Safety Competition. 

The association is still planning to host its 2021 Annual Meeting and Convention, and School Bus Driver International Safety Competition in Milwaukee, Wis., from July 17 to July 21, and is finalizing plans to host the 2022 convention and safety competition in Niagara Falls, N.Y., in July.

“NSTA foresees a time when the industry can once again come together and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the safety competition,” the association said in the email.

More information about the cancellations can be found at www.yellowbuses.org.