Bus Driver Shortage: Anne Arundel County Partially Restores About 40 Routes

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Anne Arundel County students will soon have more bus routes to take them to school. This will ease some of the stress of the ongoing bus driver shortage that has inconvenienced families for the past two years.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools announced Tuesday that it will restore partial service to about 40 bus routes starting Oct. 17.

Officials did not mention the specific schools that will get relief, but they said they will contact the affected families.

AACPS said it is identifying buses that have extended high school or middle school runs. This will allow these buses to service other schools in both the morning and the afternoon. These buses will offer either morning transportation to middle schoolers or afternoon runs to elementary schoolers.

Leaders said they are selecting routes by considering:

• Equity
• Whether an additional run will result in students getting to school on time or nearly on time
• The number of students expected to ride a bus
• The effect on a school that would get such an additional run

"I fully realize this is not the total solution that our families – and we – want," AACPS Superintendent Mark Bedell said in a press release. "However, this will relieve at least some of the pressure on families who currently have to find ways to get their students both to and from school as we continue to work on other solutions."

Bedell similarly noted that AACPS will consider changing route service to schools during the semester break. This may reallocate drivers to students who did not have bus service during the first semester.

The school system is also acquiring more passenger vans to drive students. These smaller vans do not require commercial driver's licenses like school buses. Leaders hope, however, that the van drivers will continue on to get their commercial licenses.

County Executive Steuart Pittman cheered the news.

"Today’s announcements from Dr. Bedell show significant progress in providing our children with the transportation they need to get to school every day," Pittman said in a separate press release. "When I met with Dr. Bedell last week, we discussed the need for outside-the-box thinking to address this issue, and I appreciate how aggressively he and his team are proposing and implementing new solutions to these challenges."

Politicians Weigh Solutions

Pittman tried to address the bus driver shortage last fall by securing signing and retention bonuses for drivers.

Every current or new driver will get a $5,000 bonus. Bus attendants will collect $2,000. Pittman also said this year's budget included a pay raise for school bus drivers.

The county executive hoped this $5.6 million plan would attract more drivers and attendants. The problem, however, extends beyond Anne Arundel County. The entire nation faces a shortage of commercial drivers.

Despite these efforts, some Anne Arundel County bus drivers unionized last year to fight for higher wages. The news came days after Pittman announced the driver bonuses.

The Democratic incumbent is up for re-election this November. He will face Republican Jessica Haire, who is the current County Council member for District 7.

Haire was the only council member who did not vote yes for this year's bipartisan budget, which includes raises for all teachers, staff and bus drivers.

"I want to thank the six councilmembers - Sarah Lacey, Allison Pickard, Nathan Volke, Andrew Pruski, Amanda Fiedler, and Lisa Rodvien - who voted to support our families and children by providing AACPS with the resources they need to address the continued national and regional shortage of drivers," Pittman said, excluding Haire. "I look forward to continued collaboration with Dr. Bedell and his team as they implement this plan."

Haire said she is frustrated that the bus driver shortage has inconvenienced so many families. She cited a Capital Gazette report that students have missed a combined 3,100 days of school because of bus issues.

"Over the last several months, Steuart Pittman has spent most of his time waging partisan political attacks on me, lying, and obsessing over political donations, all while our kids are missing thousands of days of school," Haire said Monday on Facebook. "This is not leadership, and it must change."

Related: School Bus Driver Shortage Again Troubles Anne Arundel County Families