Simplified: Thousands of kids in Sioux Falls rely on buses to get them to and from school, but a much smaller group of kids need rides to and from various district programs. For them, the district has created a series of "express" routes via minivan.
Why it matters
- About 8,100 kids ride the bus to or from school each day, according to Transportation Supervisor Missy Braak. A smaller subset – about 75 kids – use the district's microtransit system to catch a ride in a van during the day.
- The district has been on the microtransit trend long before the city's Sioux Area Metro developed its SAM on Demand option. Braak said she does see students also benefit from the citywide transit system, but the district needed its own system to ensure kids can get where they need to go when they need to be there.
- Using minivans instead of larger buses for trips with one to a small handful of students at a time is not only more efficient, Braak said, but it's also helpful when it comes to recruiting drivers – a regular challenge for School Bus, Inc. amid driver shortages.
"We can recruit people to drive these smaller vehicles, and they're not required to have a CDL (commercial driver's license) to drive," Braak said.
Tell me more
Historically, the district had a contract with a local taxi company to help get those kids from one school to another during the day. But when Yellow Cab went out of business in 2021, the district worked with their bus provider, School Bus Inc. to come up with another option – i.e. the minivan "express" routes.
There are a few reasons kids would need a ride in the middle of the day:
- For some students, the minivans are used to take them from a middle school to a high school to take a more accelerated class and then ride back to middle school to finish out their day.
- "Express" buses are also used to help transport students experiencing homelessness or inconsistent housing. The vans help them get to their regular attendance center to help maintain consistency in their learning.
- Kids in the district's RISE program, a special education program at the high school level, might use the vans to get to a business offering on-the-job work experience.
"We will go pick them up from school," Braak said. "They’ll have a job coach with them from the school, and they’ll go to that employer, work for an hour or two, and then we’ll take them back to school."
The vans are also used to give kids rides to and from their home school to the more behavior-focused schools including Horace Mann Elementary and Axtell Park.
What happens next?
Microtransit is a pretty small part of the district's overall transportation services.
Right now, the district spends more than $8.5 million per year on busing, with the "express" routes making up about $400,000 of the special education transportation budget.
Overall, the district is looking to continue to update the bus fleet, including some new options for student groups traveling for activities.
The district is also working over the next couple of years to upgrade the cameras in buses to monitor any behavioral incidents on the buses and ensure student safety.
