Rapid City Area Schools to cut bus stops, routes for 2025-26 to reduce cancellations and increase driver bench

Rapid City Area School District 51-4 officials presented a plan to reconfigure bus routes for the 2025-26 school year that would eliminate 108 bus stops, reduce the number of general-education routes from 34 to 26 and aim to increase average bus occupancy to about 70% of seats.

The measure follows a yearlong transportation study and is intended to reduce the rotating route cancellations that left some students without service. "We asked: what is the least we can do to get the largest result and hopefully start to turn the tide for this issue?" Chief Financial Officer Sassy told the school board during the June discussion.

Board context and why it matters

District staff and a consultant, Gage Consulting, examined stops-per-route, actual ridership and driver staffing levels. The district found it had about double the national average of stops per route and route capacity utilization of roughly 30% in many areas. That inefficiency, staff…