The American Institutes For Research (AIR) has recently released the report "What Are We Spending on Transportation for Students with Disabilities, 1999-2000?" As a part of the Special Education Expenditure Project (SEEP), this report provides special educators and transporters alike with an analysis of data collected during the 1999-2000 school year.

This report provides an opportunity to look at special transportation expenditures based upon an extensive sample of data compiled into a student database. The report compares recent data on expenditures related to the transportation for students with disabilities to earlier expenditure study information. The summary and conclusions of this report note that "The current study shows that special transportation is almost ten times more expensive than regular transportation, whereas 15 years ago, the ratio of special transportation to regular transportation spending was around seven to one." What is critical to note is that this report attests that "despite the rising cost of special transportation services, the number of students with disabilities who receive these services has declined substantially (to about 14 percent in 1999-2000 from 30 percent in 1985-86.) The authors correctly conclude that the per pupil expenditure for special transportation remains relatively high. This report can be found in its entirety at www.seep.org.

When it comes to cost saving measures, transporting students with disabilities provides numerous challenges including such basic factors as the size of the school bus fleet, number of placement options available, and the complexity of individual transportation services required to implement an individual students individualized education program (IEP) approved transportation related service. The most cost efficient decisions occur when Special Educators and Transporters work jointly and think about potential cost reduction considerations including:

The challenge of location site for the placement of students with disabilities.

When it is absolutely necessary to place a student in a school other than a home community it is essential to look at placement options, travel time and, mileage. For students with low incidence disabilities (i.e., autistic, deaf, blind, other health impaired) the pickup location should be reviewed prior to selecting a school site for service delivery if this option is available.

Routing considerations and time on the road.

Think of a fleet of buses as a single fleet serving both students with disabilities and non-disabled students. It is important not to unnecessarily separate students based upon their disability condition. We have learned that when students with emotional problems are isolated for lengthy rides, multiple problems may arise including the ability to retain drivers and monitors.

School District personnel should be encouraged to continue the trend of being wise consumers. No longer are school districts purchasing equipment solely on the basis of an "individual student need" but are considering the types of students with disabilities and their needs for the future for the school district.

Other cost-saving measures may include (1) parent-reimbursement for transportation of students with disabilities. This option has been used effectively and efficiently for preschool children as well as students not attending their home school when mutually agreed upon by the parent and school district, (2) travel training to reduce the need for curb-to-curb pickup for students who can walk safely to an approved community bus stop location. Travel training is an important consideration for students referred to as "transition students" who are attending work-study programs. This option is best utilized by urban and suburban school districts having mass transit options to work sites. Remember, this decision should be based on an IEP team's recommendation that this is a safe option and facilitates independence.

Some State Medicaid Plans include approval for billing for the related service transportation when a student receives a health-related service that is on their IEP. For children eligible for this funding source transportation costs can be reduced. This option should be explored where available.

The task to decrease special needs transportation costs includes multiple challenges. For example, transportation service delivery for students with autism may require additional supervision on a school bus, on occasion an individual student may require one or more bus monitors, there has also been an increase in the number of medically fragile children attending public schools who have complex equipment accompanying them that require the assistance of trained staff. The list of service requests can be quite extensive when addressing the unique and individual challenges faced by school districts.

When all is said and done, it is important to endorse the importance of safety as a primary priority along with the role of the individualized education program (IEP) team in assuring that the individual needs of students with disabilities have their transportation needs addressed on a case-by-case basis.

Linda F. Bluth, Ed.D. is Branch Chief and Steven Sorin, Section Chief Maryland State Department of Education, Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services, Community and Interagency Services Branch Bluth is a nationally recognized expert in special needs transportation. can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .