Editorial: School bus drivers needed

Adjusting bell schedules. Activating the National Guard. Partnering with public transit systems. Starting rideshare programs. Mileage reimbursements. Raises and bonuses.

These are among the initiatives school districts nationwide are using to alleviate the painful shortage of school bus drivers and transportation for students who need to get to and from school.

Hawaii has a similar problem. There are about 550 drivers serving our public schools, about 150 fewer than optimal. Private contractors working for the state Department of Education have consolidated or temporarily suspended bus routes to minimize the impact.

This week, the DOE and the counties started providing free city and county bus passes for public high school students on Oahu, Maui and Kauai. On Hawaii island, the service already is free.

It’s a welcome response, although not always an ideal one. School buses can be more secure and efficient. Students (and parents) don’t have to worry about missing their stop, or catching buses that arrive late or are too crowded to pick up more passengers. On rural routes where county buses come infrequently or not at all, the yellow school bus is a necessity.

It would be best to develop a stable corps of bus drivers, with better pay and benefits to keep them on the job for the long term.

Nonetheless, this pilot project, dubbed EXPRESS (Expanding Ridership to Educate Students in Schools) could prove to be a good investment. It’s hoped that if enough students take up the offer and make it work, it would alleviate pressure on the school bus network, allowing some buses to be reallocated where they are most needed — perhaps even reducing the need for school buses overall.

And since the program is open to all students — not just the 6,000 students who use school buses — it could encourage bus ridership generally. After all, the students can use the free pass to go anywhere, not just to school.

School officials will need to monitor and refine the EXPRESS project to ensure that it fits well into the overall effort to ensure that every student has a way to get to school on time, every day, safely and without undue hardship. But if the response is positive — and it doesn’t break the bank — DOE should consider keeping it going.