T4.14 Transit & schools
Work with school and transit providers to understand if there is a likely partnership to coordinate routes with transit start and top times.
According to a recent study, “Miles to Go: Bringing School Transportation into the 21st Century“, Federal Transit Administration regulations prevent public transit providers from providing service to schools which might compete with private school bus operators. These “tripper regulations” limit the ways in which public transit systems and school districts can collaborate.
Tripper service is defined as “regularly scheduled mass transportation service which is open to the public, and which is designed or modified to accommodate the needs of school students and personnel, using various fare collections or subsidy systems.” Buses used in tripper service can only stop at regular service stops along regular routes. They must be “clearly marked as open to the public and may not carry designations such as ‘school bus’ or ‘school special.’” They also cannot use a school name as the designated destination unless that school is the “final destination of a regularly scheduled mass transportation route.”
However, it is legally possible for schools that are on such a route to adjust their opening and closing times to match the bus schedule.