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Transportation report: on-time performance and ridership improving; RFID card use and bus safety remain priorities
Summary
Transportation staff reported ridership growth, an on-time performance increase to 84% in September, added buses and improvements in parent app usage, while board members pressed officials on RFID card data gaps and safety protocols for parents boarding buses.
Saint Louis Public Schools transportation staff told the board on Oct. 14 that routing adjustments, additional buses and improved driver attendance helped increase on-time performance and parent-app engagement, but officials acknowledged gaps in ridership data because many students are not yet consistently using RFID cards.
Chief Watson and transportation staff said ridership increased from August to September and that on‑time performance rose to about 84% in September from 77% in August. The district reported driver attendance near 95% and said five additional buses were added to improve route times and efficiency. Parent-app adoption rose from roughly 5,845 families to about 7,600 families, the presenters said.
RFID cards and ridership data
Board members noted that the district’s projected ridership was about 10,590 students. Watson said actual ridership figures are currently lower in the district’s data because the figures rely on RFID card taps and driver logins; students may board without tapping and some drivers experience “bottlenecks” when logging students manually. “It would be right to say that at some point you would anticipate giving us a quite a big jump in ridership numbers because you've got new data,” a board member said; Watson said the team monitors ridership daily and is working with schools to distribute RFID cards and encourage usage.
Safety protocols and parent access
Board members asked about a reported incident in which a parent boarded a bus and encouraged a child to attack another student. Watson said parents should not ride district buses and if a parent boards a bus the district’s protocol is to call police, safety and security. Watson told the board that if a student violates bus rules the student can be removed from the route temporarily and that the district uses restorative processes for reentry depending on the offense.
Operational practices and next steps
Staff said the routing team meets with drivers twice weekly for feedback; they monitor accidents, breakdowns, disciplinary incidents and calls; and they plan to remove “go stops” (stops with no recent pickups) starting Nov. 1 to improve efficiency. Officials said they will continue communication via the parent app, ParentSquare and the district website and will publish weekly changes to families and schools.
Why it matters
Transportation performance affects attendance, punctuality and student experience. The district’s immediate operational goals are to increase RFID card usage to improve ridership data, maintain driver coverage and implement routing changes that reduce student time on buses.
