Joint committee approves $600,000 pilot for student transportation routing software

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved a one-time $600,000 general-fund pilot to pay for a student transportation routing software program for participating districts and charter schools.

Jared Tetro, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told members the Central Services division request originally included larger funding for a routing system but that recent floor action reduced the available amount; the current motion funds a pilot at $600,000.

Senator Woodward moved the motion, and Representative Petzke seconded. Tetro said the Department of Education survey received responses from about 70 districts and charters, and he and staff later clarified that 43 districts had expressed interest in the survey. The $600,000 pilot was calculated at $1,500 per bus, which staff said would cover roughly 400 buses.

Representative Petzke said the pilot would include reporting requirements so districts and charters participating in the pilot would “track any necessary data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program including cost and savings.” Committee members discussed how much data districts could reasonably provide: staff said if the contract were implemented in July and operations began in August, districts could produce roughly four months of data by the time the next session convened, with a fuller report after one full year of data.

The motion passed on recorded roll call. Committee staff later offered language stating the Department will collect necessary data from participating districts and report to the committee after one full year of data; that language was accepted by unanimous consent and will accompany the pilot appropriation.

Ending: Staff and sponsors said the pilot is intended to produce initial savings data the Legislature can use to decide whether to continue or scale the program in future sessions.