LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The recent announcement by the Lansing School District that it will no longer offer bussing services to high school students shows what a dire circumstance many Michigan communities face as a new school year kicks off soon.

Instead of partnering with Dean Transportation to bus the high school students to and from school, the school district will be giving parents gas cards and bus passes to use for Capitol Area Transportation Authority (CATA), the public transportation system.

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Dean Transportation, which has a huge shortage of bus drivers, according to a source close to the situation, will now be focusing on transporting K-8 students and will still be offering bus service to all special education students and proving transportation to competitions and events for athletics and other groups.

200 miles away in Leelanau County, there are only four bus drivers available to drive the school bus routes for Leland Public Schools with two of the drivers being part time employees.

Their superintendent sent a letter to parents recently about the situation calling it a “tipping point.” If they are not able to find enough drivers by August 15th, the students will be going to designated depots or “bus stops” to be picked up.

The bus driver shortage is everywhere. Novi Schools need five drivers, Utica Schools needs up to 30. Livonia needs six and Northville is looking for about eight drivers.

Thornapple Kellogg Schools in Middleville is cutting bus routes because they are short eight drivers. They usually have about 30 bus drivers for a 125 square mile area but short staffing due to retirements and other reasons have put them in a pinch.

School districts are holding job fairs and paying high hourly wages to address the labor shortage but the shortages persist.

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The bus driver shortages started during COVID-19 and haven’t let up since. In October 2021, the National Association for Pupil Transportation released the results of their bus driver shortage survey and it showed that 77% of the respondents in the Midwest were altering their transportation services due to COVID-19 with 51% of total
respondents calling their driver shortage “severe” or “desperate.”