No matter how dire things have become, it remainsimperative the rest of the industry continue to do the same, said the past NASDPTS president and the state director at the Ohio Department of Education on Friday during the formal opening of proceedings at the association’s annual conference.

The industry veteran provided fellow state directors and NASDPTS Supplier Council members with a brief history of student transportation in Ohio, and how budgetary pressures have affected the state, much like what has occurred across the country. For example, in 1941, Ohio operated 6,800 school buses, and it cost $24.13 to transport one student each school year. Fast forward to 2010, the most recent data available, and the fleet had nearly doubled to 13,342 buses that transported 918,257 students at a cost of $781.43 per student.

Ohio has seen an explosion of student transportation costs on the back of transportation to school of choice, introduced in the state in 1998, and a legislative requirement 15 years earlier that public schools also transport private-school students. Meanwhile, the number of “latch-key kids” has skyrocketed and schools have been forced to collaborate more closely with local police on the location of registered sexual predators and drug houses. New zoning laws for subdivisions now also favor fewer sidewalks for community aesthetics, which has resulted in more drive-way service, as well as increased hazardous routes.

“Parents call us for dangers in the community. Parents call us when they’re not home to take care of their kids. We’ve become very personalized,” said Japikse.

But even as the added weight of “yellow and black taxis” bends the backs of school districts to the breaking point, Japikse said an opportunity exists, a common theme made time and again this past week as several hundred NAPT members have joined state directors and representatives from manufacturing companies and vendors of product and services.

While there are differing opinions on what transportation services school districts can and should be providing, not to mention how, Japikse said the current economic landscape gives student transporters the opportunity to forge a greater rapport with Moms and Dads by smartly providing answers to common-day problems. A byproduct of this is a better understanding by parents of how transportation services work, how they are restricted by funding and resource constraints so as to set realistic expectations.

This requires a new way of thinking, he added, which includes the realization that public school employees must realize that their true bosses are not the superintendents but the taxpaying parents. While safe transportation of students remains the trademark of the industry, he said transportation cannot simply be aligned with the school system.

“Any business that maintains the status quo will go away,” Japikse added.