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A school bus contractor is a private company or proprietorship that provides student transport services to a school district or non-public school. Of the 450,000 school buses operating in the United States, it is estimated that approximately 39% are operated by school bus contractors. In Canada (with some still operated by the school boards) and the United Kingdom, almost all school transportation is performed by contractors.
A school bus contractor may range in size from an individual driver with a single bus, to a small company serving a single school or district, to a large multi-national company with as many as 60,000 buses. [1]
Major school bus contractors currently operating in the United States and Canada include First Student, National Express, and Student Transportation Inc.
A bus is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but less than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for charter purposes, or through private ownership. Although the average bus carries between 30 and 100 passengers, some buses have a capacity of up to 300 passengers. The most common type is the single-deck rigid bus, with double-decker and articulated buses carrying larger loads, and midibuses and minibuses carrying smaller loads. Coaches are used for longer-distance services. Many types of buses, such as city transit buses and inter-city coaches, charge a fare. Other types, such as elementary or secondary school buses or shuttle buses within a post-secondary education campus, are free. In many jurisdictions, bus drivers require a special large vehicle licence above and beyond a regular driving licence.
Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. The company also operates transport services including trains abroad: in the Republic of Ireland, United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Germany, Bahrain, Morocco, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and South Korea, and long-distance coach services across Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus. Various configurations of school buses are used worldwide; the most iconic examples are the yellow school buses of the United States which are also found in other parts of the world.
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen in the north-east of Scotland. The company operates transport services in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
The Wayne Corporation was an American manufacturer of buses and other vehicles under the "Wayne" marque. The corporate headquarters were in Richmond, Indiana, in Wayne County, Indiana. During the middle 20th century, Wayne served as a leading producer of school buses in North America.
Laidlaw, organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. was the largest provider of intercity bus services, contract public transit and paratransit, and contract school bus service in both the United States and Canada. In February 2007, FirstGroup, a bus and rail transportation operator in the United Kingdom with subsidiaries in North America, acquired Laidlaw International, Inc. FirstGroup completed the acquisition of Laidlaw International on October 1, 2007, and rebranded Laidlaw services under the First umbrella. The deal combined North America's two largest private school bus operators—Education Services and First Student Inc.—giving them a combined 40% of the school bus contractor market.
Frank W. Cyr was an American educator and author known especially for his contribution to school busing.
The Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District is a mass transit system that operates in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area in central-eastern Illinois. MTD is headquartered in Urbana and operates its primary hub at the intermodal Illinois Terminal in downtown Champaign. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 8,947,600, or about 39,200 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Coach USA, LLC is a holding company for various American transportation service providers providing scheduled intercity bus service, local and commuter bus transit, city sightseeing, tour, yellow school bus, and charter bus service across the United States and Canada. It is owned by the private equity firm, Variant Equity Advisors, based in Los Angeles.
A transit district or transit authority is a government agency or a public-benefit corporation created for the purpose of providing public transportation within a specific region.
First Student, Inc. is a North American provider of school bus services. The company works with districts in 38 states and 7 Canadian provinces, carrying approximately 5 million students daily. In addition to its regular routes, First Student also provides special-needs transportation, field trip services, and charter bus rentals.
Atlantic Express was an operator of transit buses, paratransit and school buses in the United States, specializing primarily in school bus service, while operating transit buses in New York City. At the time of its closure, Atlantic Express was the fifth largest school bus operator in the United States and Canada, behind First Student/First Student Canada, Durham School Services, Student Transportation of America, and the New York City-area Metropolitan Transportation Authority's bus division.
Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable.
Bus companies in Ontario range in scale from small family-run businesses to subsidiaries of large international transportation groups. Many operate yellow school buses for student transportation on behalf of local school boards, while others concentrate on luxury coach charters and tours. Some municipalities use these private companies to run their public transit systems.
Student Transportation Inc., doing business as Student Transportation of America (STA) and Student Transportation of Canada (STC), is a New Jersey-based school bus contractor that focuses on rural and suburban areas. It is the third-largest school bus transportation services provider in North America, with over 11,500 vehicles that transport students in more than 225 school districts.
MV Transportation, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas., is the largest privately owned passenger transportation contracting services firm in the United States. The company can provide paratransit, fixed-route, campus and corporate shuttles, and student transportation services, partnering with over 200 city and county government transit agencies, school districts, universities, and corporations. MV serves over 110 million passengers each year across 30 states and Canada with a team of more than 20,000 transit professionals.
Student transport is the transporting of children and teenagers to and from schools and school events. School transport can be undertaken by school students themselves, they may be accompanied by family members or caregivers, or the transport may be organised collectively, using school buses or taxis.
Durham School Services is a school bus operator providing contracted student transportation throughout the United States, based in Lisle, Illinois, and currently operating in 32 states. Founded in 1917 with three buses in the San Gabriel Valley, it became a subsidiary of National Express in 1999.
As a part of student transport, buses play a key role in transporting students to and from school, making a unuseful transporter machine byscoinciding with their high seating capacity and a higher degree of safety compared to other modes of transportation. The usage of buses in student transport varies worldwide, ranging from the usage of public transportation by students, transit buses set aside to transport students, or purpose-built school buses owned and operated by school systems.
Zum, also written as Zūm, is an American student transportation services company, based in Redwood City, California, U.S.