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North Mason schools rebuild student bus ridership

The North Mason School Board's May 18 meeting saw Transportation Director Maurine Simons present data on ridership, maintenance and the costs of running her department.

The district bought four new buses, getting rid of four buses that were 20 years old.

Prior to that, 62% of those buses were off the depreciation schedule. That went down to 46%.

Big buses run on a 13-year depreciation schedule. Small buses are on an eight-year schedule.

The average age of the district's small buses is 9.1 years, so 55% are off depreciation.

In the next two years, all of them will be off depreciation, except for the three newest small buses that the district gained in 2019.

The new big buses cost at least $101,000 each, plus slightly more than $10,000 for additional options selected by the district, such as noise-canceling acoustics for the passenger ceilings and engine compartments, none of which are standard parts of the state bid, plus another $10,000 and change to cover taxes, for a total of nearly $122,000.

This year, the state bid base price for a big bus, carrying 77 passengers, was $128,000, with the hood in the front. Although many district drivers prefer flat-nosed buses, because their rear engines keep that noise in the back, they cost $166,000 and the state would only reimburse the district for $149,000 of that price.

The district's goal is to maximize the number of

buses it can acquire in each wave, with interchangeable parts between them.

The small buses that are 15 and 19 years old are not on the agenda to be replaced soon, given the district has big buses that are 18 and 22 years old.

"One of the buses we just got rid of this year was from 1998," Simons said. "We're working our way through them, but our little buses are doing really well, and are being well-maintained."

Over the past 10 years, the earliest seven years saw drivers' hours remain relatively steady, between 845 and 896 hours, until COVID hit in 2020, during which drivers' hours declined to 132.6.

Drivers' hours regained roughly half that loss in 2021, building back up to 489.9, and 2022 saw their hours rise again, to 726.5.

According to Simons, the reason those hours remain lower than their pre-COVID levels is because the district now has fewer routes, but she pledged to ultimately restore all the district's pre-COVID routes.

From 2013-19, the district maintained a level of 27 to 29 buses on 47 to 50 routes, but COVID knocked that down to 21 buses on 40 routes in 2020 and 38 routes in 2021, before increasing to 24 buses serving 44 routes in 2022.

"We have managed not to cancel a single route in the last three years," said Simons, who praised the district transportation team for its part in making this possible.

Simons noted that, as the district's pool of drivers has been reduced, the remaining drivers have been dealing with more passengers per bus, from as many as 60 for elementary school routes to 45 to 50 for high school routes, and increased job requirements.

"Typically, you lose about 50% of your (drivers) after the first week anyway, because they learn all the things they're responsible for, from having to clean a bus, to being responsible for 60 bodies behind you, when you can't see them all," Simons said.

The district's bus ridership numbers over the past decade fall into the same pattern of a pre-COVID plateau, COVID plummet and post-COVID rapid rebound. Simone said the reason those numbers rose slightly from 2017 to 2018 was because in 2018 "we switched to counting every single day, versus counting just (within) a specific time period, which is typical" for school districts, to obtain their fall, winter and spring numbers.

From 2013 to 2017, rider numbers ranged from 2,559 to 2,642 in fall, 2,495 to 2,603 in winter and 2,417 to 2,544 in spring.

But from 2018 to 2019, riders increased to 2,752 to 2,818 in fall, 2,750 to 2,810 in winter and 2,772 to 2,810 in spring.

From 2020 to 2021, rider numbers fell to 92 in the fall, 312 in winter and 999 in spring.

But from 2021 to 2022, rider numbers recovered to 2,313 to 2,386 in fall, 2,251 to 2,379 in winter and 2,230 to 2,326 in spring.

Simons expressed confidence that those ridership numbers would continue to recover, "as we continue to bring back routes and lower route times," but she conceded several families are probably choosing to avoid certain bus routes' ride times, some of which can last an hour, even if they live within closer direct drive times.

"There's just no other way to do it with what we have, to be able to still service all of the areas that we service," Simons said.

Moving onto transportation mechanics, Simons noted the transportation department has two mechanics in its shop, who have maintained "outstanding inspections" with the Washington State Patrol for more than 10 years.

Every fall, the Washington State Patrol conducts a surprise inspection of 25% of the North Mason School District transportation department's fleet, and every spring, the WSP conducts a scheduled inspection of 100% of the transportation department's vehicles that transport students, including 26 big buses, nine small buses and six vans, inspecting more than 200 items on every vehicle.

"Because our fleet is so well-maintained by our mechanics, it only took them two days," Simons said.

The fleet also includes two food service and eight facilities vehicles, plus lawn equipment, and its staffing includes 22 bus drivers, four substitute bus drivers, two van drivers and two trainees.

Since 2020, the transportation department has trained 10 drivers and lost 13, "but we're recouping, and we're getting there."

Simons concluded by summarizing how the transportation department is helping affirm the PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) practiced by the rest of the school district.

"We work with the schools, talking with the teachers and principals about how we're handling situations on the bus, so that we have consistent language being used, consistent expectations and consistent consequences," Simons said.

Author Bio

Kirk Boxleitner, Reporter

Author photo

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
[email protected]

 

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