How districts are addressing bus driver shortages

(InvestigateTV) — The number of school bus drivers employed in the U.S. fell nearly 10% between 2019 and 2025, as districts work to address a shortage of drivers.

The number of drivers dropped from 223,252 in August 2019 to 202,076 in August 2025. Some parents say canceled or delayed bus routes are happening too often.

Over three days in April 2026, thousands of students in Fort Wayne, Indiana, stayed home to learn remotely because of a lack of bus drivers.

During the first 10 weeks of the 2025-2026 school year, a shortage of drivers in South Carolina’s largest district resulted in more than 7,000 bus delay notifications to parents.

Parent describes missed pickup

Victoria Encarnacion said her daughter waited outside in Waterbury, Connecticut, hoping to be picked up for school. Encarnacion said her daughter realized no one was coming and walked to North Main.

After an hour of walking to multiple stops, the daughter went home.

“She called me and told me, ‘Mom, I quit,’” Encarnacion said. “For her to go through that effort just to make it to school, it’s impactful for me to be like, all right, you know, just stay home.”

Encarnacion said the missed pickups happen about once a month for her daughter.

“As a parent, is it stressful every day not knowing if the bus is going to pick up your kid? Absolutely,” Encarnacion said. “It happens maybe once a month, but it’s definitely stressful.”

Encarnacion wants the problem resolved sooner rather than later.

Pay and hiring challenges

The pandemic exposed that once a driver obtains a commercial driver’s license, the driver can move to another industry with better pay.

Mark Medina, a regional director with the National Association for Pupil Transportation, said school bus drivers often feel they are in a “lose-lose situation.”

“They’re doing the best that they can,” Medina said. “It’s not an easy thing to transport a bus with 50 kids. There’s a lot happening.”

Medina said pay has improved in recent years, and the association is working to get retirement cap waivers and tax relief for drivers.

Split shifts, changes in risk factors for an older workforce because of COVID-19 and other factors make a return to pre-pandemic driver numbers difficult.

“There’s a figure it out attitude in the school transportation world,” Medina said. “And I believe that if that mindset continues, we’re going to be all right.”

Change training requirement

Lawmakers introduced a bill in 2025 that would remove one barrier for people looking to become a school bus driver.

All commercial driver’s license holders are required to be able to identify engine parts and how they work. Lawmakers say the requirement is designed more for long-haul trucking and can add three or four extra days of training.

The “Driving Forward Act” would remove that requirement for school bus drivers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says the exemption would not affect safety.