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SFUSD presents transportation overhaul with possible 57% bus reduction and finds full fee recovery unlikely
Summary
SFUSD staff outlined a substitute transportation policy and a community engagement plan; analysis shows full cost recovery through fees is unlikely given district demographics and current bus costs, and staff estimated a possible 57% reduction in bus fleet use over three years while exploring partial-fee and alternative service models.
At the Student Assignment Committee meeting, staff presented a substitute transportation policy intended to clarify goals and improve transparency about how general-education bus services would be provided under the new assignment system. Cecilia Dodge and Susan Kagajero explained a two-step community engagement plan (policy-level outreach followed by route-level detail in winter) and said the district will publish the policy goals and the questions it will use to select routes and stops.
Susan Kagajero reviewed revenue and fee scenarios and told the committee state rules set a maximum charge per passenger at $4.18 per one-way trip ($8.36 for a round trip) but that state law exempts students whose IEPs require transportation and students defined as indigent. Kagajero said SFUSD's current elementary population has a high share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals (62.1 percent), and that given bus contract costs (about $100,000 per bus per year) and current occupancy levels, full cost recovery through per-seat fees is "highly unlikely."
Kagajero summarized modeled outcomes: under a full-recovery scenario the district would need roughly $568 per bus per day in fees; partial-cost models compared to Bay Area averages (about $380 per student annually) could generate revenue but would not cover per-bus contract costs once administrative expenses and likely reductions in demand are included. Staff also compared charges and service models used by other Bay Area districts and by municipal transit (Muni youth and adult passes) to illustrate reasonable-fee benchmarks.
Commissioners pressed staff on operational questions: whether fees should be charged only for after-school trips, whether some districts run their own fleets more cheaply than contracting, the administrative costs of fee collection, and how the district will phase in route and stop changes. Several commissioners said families must be told as soon as possible which routes will disappear and urged the district to include transportation changes or caveats on the application so families do not make enrollment decisions based on outdated assumptions.
Public commenters and parent advisors warned that eliminating or reducing transportation without on-site after-school alternatives could leave working families without options; PAC recommended immediate, multilingual outreach and suggested existing school communications be used to reach families. Staff said they would phase out stops rather than remove service all at once, identify students who currently use buses so they can be contacted directly, and continue community meetings and enrollment-fair outreach in the coming weeks.
At the meeting's close the committee agreed by consensus to forward the substitute transportation policy motion to the full Board for consideration and instructed staff to continue public outreach and to produce more detailed route-level information as it becomes available.
