Shortage of bus drivers could affect Pittsburgh students going back to school

The return to classrooms within Pittsburgh Public Schools this week was a success, district officials said — but a looming shortage of bus drivers could threaten the district’s ability to bring in more students.

A severe shortage of bus drivers means the district won’t have enough open seats for everyone, as the number of students returning to buildings gradually increases this month. The district is asking families with the ability to find alternative means to get their children to school.

Pittsburgh Public Schools welcomed back 4,786 students this week in “Support Category 4,” which includes students considered to have the greatest need for in-person instruction. Support category 3 will return April 26, and the remainder of students, in Support Categories 1 and 2, will be back in classrooms May 3. The district is using a hybrid learning model, in which students attend school for two days and are remote for three.

District officials said the lack of available bus seats will become an issue May 3, when more than 10,000 students return for face-to-face instruction. The largest school district in the region, Pittsburgh Public Schools had an enrollment of 20,000 as of October 2020. In a typical school year, however, the district’s transportation department is responsible for around 30,000 students total, including those in private and parochial schools.

Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said it’s possible some won’t be able to come back to class at all, if they aren’t able to find alternative transportation. Right now, he said, the district can’t ensure there will be enough bus seats for every student who has expressed a need.

“Unfortunately, that is a possibility,” he said. “We have people working diligently on the back end to make sure we can try to accommodate or students and families as best as possible … but that is a possibility.”

Based on data gathered from a recent parent survey to assess transportation needs, Megan Patton, director of pupil transportation services, estimated a shortage of 1,200 seats come May 3, a number that’s only expected to grow. The shortage will also affect the district’s ability to provide transportation to charter and parochial schools.

“We are encouraging families to secure transportation,” Patton said. “We’re also asking families to notify the district if they are not planning to use their seat, so it can be released to a student who would need the seat.”

Already the driver shortage is showing its effects: Patton said nine drivers took leave this week, creating a lack of coverage for 27 bus routes the district quickly had to fill. Conversely, 20 routes this week were empty, with vacant ridership. Buses are also operating at a reduced capacity of two students per seat, Patton said, due to covid-19.

The driver shortage was created when the district first went fully remote last year, said Todd O’Shell, vice president of operations at ABC Transit, one of 20 bus carriers contracted by the district. When schools shut down, many drivers left for steadier job opportunities. Some needed to stay home with their own children, who were learning from home.

In the last year, O’Shell said the bus company has seen a 41% reduction in applications, creating an additional challenge as ABC tries to fill the empty slots.

In addition, even before the pandemic, school bus companies have been reporting driver shortages, both locally and nationally.

The majority of high school students use public transporation from the Port Authority to get to school, using transit passes provided by the school district. But Patton said this, too, has posed a challenge. With capacity restrictions due to the pandemic, Port Authority sometimes skips stops when full, leaving students without a way of getting to class on time.

Patton said PPS needs at least 200 drivers by May 3 to accommodate the number of students who use district transportation. At least 350 are needed by the fall, when the district expects to be back to a fully in-person learning model.

She said the district is seeking additional contractors in hopes of filling the gaps. The district will prioritize needs of students with specialized services, and engage with community groups and local churches to find alternative means of transportation, Hamlet said.

O’Shell said ABC Transit is also deploying a number of methods in hopes of attracting new drivers, fast. The company is paying drivers more than $21 an hour and paying for CDL classes, along with a $1,000 bonus for people who receive their CDL license through ABC’s training program. ABC Transit is also offering a $2,500 signing bonus and offering accommodations for drivers with children – including an earlier return to school for the children of school bus drivers.

“What our drivers need — they need to feel safe,” O’Shell said, naming a litany of sanitation methods now being implemented by the carrier. “And … our drivers are going to need some patience as we move forward here with the start. They’re returning to a first day of school for the first time in a year.”

Hamlet and other district officials asked parents to be flexible and find alternative transportation options, if possible.

“Understand the realities of this pandemic and where we are right now, how it’s affected transportation,” Hamlet said. “But thank goodness we have an online and remote system in place. … Education will continue as we’re working to get the children back into school, transportation, as best we can.”