Consultant finds Plymouth bus system efficient under current bell schedules; urges caution on in‑house takeover
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Summary
A consultant’s transportation study concluded Plymouth’s routes are near-optimal given the district’s bell schedules and geography, found seat utilization around 40% but high use of tier time, and advised the committee to seek competitive bids before considering bringing bus operations in‑house.
An independent transportation study presented to the Plymouth School Committee concluded the district’s system is largely efficient given local constraints, but warned that seat utilization is low while available routing time is nearly fully used.
Rich Labrie of Alliance Education Associates told the committee the district is “using about 40% of the seats that are capable,” and that Plymouth’s long tier times and driving distances mean the system already consumes nearly all available routing time in the morning and afternoon. He said that combination — low seat percentage and high tier-time utilization — reflects the district’s geography, bell schedules and school locations, not routing miscues.
Labrie reviewed fleet and contract issues. He reported the district’s contracted driver rates include an annual increase of about 2.75% and cautioned that when the contract ends the next round of bids could show “sticker shock.” He also said Milton’s recent bid illustrated how contractor pricing may jump and recommended the district consider going out to bid a year earlier than the contract expiration to obtain current market pricing.
The consultant reviewed a cost-benefit model comparing continued contracting with a full district takeover. Labrie said the analysis showed a first‑year capital cost to purchase buses and set up operations would make an in‑house model more expensive initially; by year three the model suggested possible savings of roughly 3.4% versus contracting, if large up-front capital is assumed. He advised the committee that a piecemeal takeover would likely be more expensive, because fixed costs would be spread over fewer vehicles.
On fleet condition, Labrie said the average bus age was about 6.1 years and recommended the district develop a capital replacement plan to keep roughly half the fleet under warranty at all times. He reported the district’s van fleet was newer (average age ~1.7 years) and almost entirely under warranty.
Committee members asked about driver shortages, fuel contract terms and whether collaborative routing with neighboring districts was feasible. Labrie said driver shortages and private-sector recruiting incentives are real recruitment challenges, that diesel purchased on the state contract is set annually, and that computerized routing would identify excess capacity that could be shared with neighboring districts.
No formal motion was taken; the presentation closed with committee discussion about next steps, including the consultant’s suggestion to consider soliciting bids earlier than the current contract schedule and to develop a capital plan if the district elects to purchase vehicles.