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Burrillville committee approves 2025-26 DATCO bus routes after members seek ridership review
Summary
The Burrillville School Committee approved the district's 2025-26 DATCO bus routes but members raised questions about an eliminated bus, long ride times and the need for updated ridership counts; staff and the bus contractor will review routes and report back after an October ridership check.
The Burrillville School Committee on Aug. 12 approved the district's 2025-26 DATCO bus routes but several committee members pressed for a follow-up review of routing and ridership.
Members said the routes look similar to prior years though the district had requested the contractor eliminate one bus. Committee members asked DATCO to explain which bus was removed and how students previously assigned to that run were redistributed among remaining buses.
Committee members expressed concern about route efficiency and student ride times. A member noted some routes include long travel times and uneven distribution of stops, saying routes sometimes appear to lack geographic logic. Members asked for a more detailed routing study and said they expected updated ridership counts by an Oct. 1 review date so the company and district can adjust routes if needed.
District staff said the contractor will record actual student boarding after routes start and that routing and times in the vendor's printout sometimes include deadhead time to and from the bus garage; those figures can therefore overstate in-service travel time. Staff also noted parents complete annual emergency/contact forms that include ride information, and the district maintains bus-registration forms tied to student enrollment.
Motion to approve the 2025-26 DATCO bus routes was made by Donison and seconded by Jill. The committee approved the routes by voice vote. Members said they do not anticipate immediately eliminating another bus this school year but expect to revisit route adjustments if necessary after early-term ridership data are collected.
