Florida’s public school transportation needs updating. Here’s how | Column
The policies have remained largely unchanged for decades.
Published June 11, 2025, in the Tampa Bay Times
As a father, legislator and proud Floridian, I’ve seen firsthand the challenges families face getting their children to school safely. In Hillsborough County, the situation is urgent. Hillsborough County Public Schools consistently struggles to fill bus driver positions, with more than 250 vacancies just last year, causing route delays, overcrowded buses and limited service. Their website even indicates that buses may be anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours late, particularly at the beginning of the school year.
The biggest challenges with school transportation extend beyond long wait times and inconveniences — they’re safety issues. As Florida’s population explodes, roadways become busier and more dangerous for students to navigate. Our state has made great strides to bolster school safety, but those protections don’t always extend to the routes children take to get there. As a result, many students are forced to walk or bike past dangerous areas, including traveling alone past sexual predator residences, walking along busy roadways without sidewalks and navigating rural stretches with minimal lighting.
Florida’s school transportation policies have remained largely unchanged for decades, despite significant shifts in population, technology, and community needs. We are asking too much of an outdated system built for a different era.
Innovation and options offer a better path forward. In states like Colorado, Virginia and Texas, technology-based solutions are already being used to supplement school transportation, particularly for vulnerable populations like foster youth or students with disabilities. These platforms transform traditional, often manual, planning processes into intelligent, dynamic and data-driven operations using artificial intelligence. This allows schools to develop customized plans to create more efficient, cost-effective and safe transportation systems that can address critical challenges, including bus driver shortages, student safety and budget reductions.
In fact, while using HopSkipDrive, an AI-based school transportation routing provider, one Colorado district realized they didn’t have a bus driver shortage issue like they thought, but rather an efficiency issue. They leveraged this technology to right-size their bus fleet, improve vehicle utilization and optimize routes, resulting in a 40% reduction in their transportation capital budget over 10 years.
That’s why I introduced a pilot program to bring similar innovation to Florida. The initiative would allow school districts to use intelligent routing platforms to explore expanding district-funded transportation to more students — specifically, grades 7–12 facing hazardous walking conditions, and all K–12 students living more than one mile from school. It also gives districts tools to modify routes to avoid threats not currently covered by law, such as lack of sidewalks, early-morning darkness or busy roads.
This isn’t about replacing buses. It’s about making kids and traveling safer. It’s about equipping school districts with better tools to make smarter, safer decisions. Implementing this type of technology can relieve carline congestion, reduce pressure on bus fleets and give parents the peace of mind they deserve.
The technology is here. The model works. The only thing missing is the will to act. I look forward to continuing this work alongside my colleagues next session to bring meaningful, modern solutions to ensure every student has a safe and reliable way to get to school.
It’s time to modernize school transportation. Our children’s safety, education and future depend on it.
State Rep. Danny Alvarez serves District 69 in Hillsborough County.