Committee adopts measure to modernize pupil transportation data collection

The House Education Committee adopted House Bill 1326 as amended, a measure authors said will let school districts collect additional pupil-transportation data and use modern routing technology instead of manual mileage logs.

Representative Friel, sponsor of the bill, said the legislation is the product of about a year of stakeholder meetings with intermediate units, transportation associations, school business officers and other groups. He said the existing transportation funding formula has not been updated since 1971 and that the state lacks sufficient data to consider formula changes.

The amendment adopted (A00544) removes a provision that would have prohibited districts from transporting students outside state lines and instead requires school districts to report annually the number of students transported outside Pennsylvania. The amendment and the bill passed on roll calls recorded in committee; the amendment passed 26–0 and the bill was adopted by voice/consensus and reported as committed.

Friel described concrete operational changes the bill would allow, including permitting districts to use GPS and routing software to compute route distances rather than requiring drivers to record odometer-based mileage stop by stop. Supporters said those changes would reduce administrative burden and improve accuracy. Committee members emphasized the bill is designed to collect data — not to immediately change the transportation funding formula — and that future formula updates would rely on the new data.

Why it matters: supporters argued that accurate, modernized data are necessary before altering how the state funds pupil transportation. The bill focuses on data collection and administrative modernization; funding or formula changes would be the subject of future legislation informed by the data.