School Bus Fleet, February 2020

SUPPLEMENTAL TRANSPORTATION accessible vans need to be equipped with a QStraint wheelchair securement system Saunders adds In St Louis Mo Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corp VICC uses a variety of vehicles for its supplemental transportation service including some of those mentioned by Saunders with the addition of taxicabs Tami Webb the operations manager for VICC and TransPar liaison says that VICC currently runs about 150 taxicabs as part of its transportation program and has been using the vehicles for the last 35 years Besides the taxicabs were also in the midst of looking into getting some smaller 14 passenger vans to help transport some of our McKinney Vento and current taxicab students Webb says Since we cover all of St Louis County a total of 570 square miles we have some students who are in programs that are being transported by themselves so we want to make sure they are accounted for KEEPING UP WITH INDUSTRY CHANGES For school districts looking to partner with alternative transportation providers ALC Schools Carey recommends districts do their research beforehand find out what kinds of vehicles the supplemental transportation provider ofers and how they are adhering to specific state and district guidelines The student transportation landscape has changed so much within the last decade she says There are newer time constraints for example a lot of specialneeds students may have a shorter window requirement for being transported While driver shortage is a critical issue in the industry compliance is essential and consulting and management companies like TransPar can help monitor drivers and contractors and ensure they are compliant Webb adds It has been our experience that school transportation systems are consistently being asked to do more with less programmatically while the transportation staf are already doing much more with much less than anyone would have previously thought possible says Doug Martin president of TransPar Our team understands these challenges because we tackle them every day across the country and I think that may be the most beneficial aspect alternative transportation providers can provide Sadiah Thompson@ bobit com 30 SCHOOL BUS FLEET FEBRUARY 2020 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COM Photo courtesy Tami Webb Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corp VICC in St Louis Mo currently runs about 150 taxicabs to provide school transportation for some of its out ofdistrict students