[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-587718-105":59,"doc-detail-587718-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","whos-driving-the-bus-demand-and-staffing-challenges-for-wisconsin-licensed-bus-drivers","Who’s Driving the bus? - Demand and Staffing Challenges for Wisconsin Licensed Bus Drivers","","Who’s Driving the bus? examines how Wisconsin’s licensed school bus and passenger bus driver workforce has shrunk over the past 15 years, reporting sharp declines in licensed holders and a rapid rise in driver age. The shortages strain school districts and transit agencies, contributing to service delays, higher operating pressures, increased costs, and greater stress for families and transit-dependent workers. It also discusses why common demand indicators are limited and how contracting may affect visibility into available drivers.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/whos-driving-the-bus-demand-and-staffing-challenges-for-wisconsin-licensed-bus-drivers/587718/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/whos-driving-the-bus-demand-and-staffing-challenges-for-wisconsin-licensed-bus-drivers/587718.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Melati","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-09","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",13,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What has happened to Wisconsin’s licensed bus driver workforce in recent years?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Wisconsin has seen substantial declines in licensed school bus drivers and even steeper declines for passenger bus driver license holders, alongside an increase in average driver age.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"Why are school districts and transit agencies struggling to hire enough drivers?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"The document attributes the difficulty to shrinking supply of licensed drivers and notes added pressures such as rising costs, crowded routes, and disruptions that affect service reliability.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"How do the report’s demand indicators limit conclusions about the true shortage?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"It explains that some metrics are ratios of potential needs to available drivers rather than direct measures of students per busload or hours driven, and that enrollment changes may not reflect real busing mileage needs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},587718,1792960553,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":19,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":52,"preview_page_count":4},962085570644,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","Who’s Driving the bus?  \nWisconsin has seen a 17.7% drop in licensed school bus drivers over the past 15 years, creating challenges for school districts and the families they serve. This problem may get worse before it gets better, as more than onefifth of licensed school bus drivers are 65 and over. Transit systems across the state are facing a similar problem, with the number of people licensed to only drive passenger buses falling by 19.6% over the same time period, and  \nthe average age of these drivers rising by nearly six years.  \nSchool districts across Wisconsin report struggling to  \nfind enough bus drivers to drive children to school, with some exasperated districts considering their own school board members as potential drivers. Transit systems across the state face pressures of their own because of a shortage of drivers, with some acknowledging rising costs and more crowded routes.  \nThese shortages make it harder to get students to school at a time of rising chronic absenteeism in Wisconsin and can create stress for working parents, who have to drive their children or arrange another ride. The loss of drivers also puts pressure on transit system budgets and can affect transit-dependent workers and the broader labor market.  \nDepartment of Public Instruction (DPI) and on transit passengers from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to understand changes in demand for licensed bus drivers.  \nDemand Trends for Drivers  \nWhile school and passenger bus driver license holders have declined by similar percentages, the school bus driver shortage appears to have received more media attention so far. For example, districts across the state have reported serious service delays, with students picked up after school has begun, or on schedules that stress both parents and students. Disruptions for transit providers have received less attention, though leaders at some agencies such as Madison Metro Transit have  \nUsing data from the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), we find that bus driver shortages appear partially tied to a drop in licensed drivers since  \n2007. Over that time, the number of licensed school bus drivers in Wisconsin declined by 3,062, or 17. 7%, while drivers with a license to drive only passenger buses dropped by 4,952, or 19.6%(see Figure 1) .  \nIn Wisconsin, school bus driver licenses are also valid for operating passenger buses, but passenger bus license holders cannot operate school buses. In our analysis, we split school bus and passenger bus licenses, but readers should note that at least some licensed school bus drivers are likely employed driving passenger buses. We also draw on data on students from the state  \nindicated that they have also had to work to hire enough drivers.  \nAny difference in the severity of the shortage likely relates to the supply and demand for each type of driver. The data suggest school bus operations are being stretched thinner over time, while that does not appear to be the case for passenger bus drivers. The number of public and private school students in Wisconsin per licensed school bus driver has increased from 59.5 in 2007 to 68.5 in 2022 (see Figure 2) . In the case of transit agencies, however, their hours of service operation per licensed passenger bus driver were higher in 2012 than they were in 2022.  \nWhile instructive, each metric is at best a limited tool for determining the true demand for drivers, in part because they are simply a ratio of potential service needs divided by total possible drivers, not an estimate of the number of students per busload or hours driven by each passenger bus driver. For example, some licensed school bus drivers may not be actively driving a school bus at present. Changes in total statewide enrollment also may fail to capture districts’ true busing needs. Substantial enrollment declines in a rural district, for example, may not lead to a drop in the number of miles that buses must travel to pick up the remaining studen","cbCaiqFq77Yi0zuS","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqFq77Yi0zuS","pdf",162302,"English","# Demand Trends for Drivers\n## Rapidly Aging Drivers\n## Contracting and Limited Demand Metrics","[{\"question\":\"What has happened to Wisconsin’s licensed bus driver workforce in recent years?\",\"answer\":\"Wisconsin has seen substantial declines in licensed school bus drivers and even steeper declines for passenger bus driver license holders, alongside an increase in average driver age.\"},{\"question\":\"Why are school districts and transit agencies struggling to hire enough drivers?\",\"answer\":\"The document attributes the difficulty to shrinking supply of licensed drivers and notes added pressures such as rising costs, crowded routes, and disruptions that affect service reliability.\"},{\"question\":\"How do the report’s demand indicators limit conclusions about the true shortage?\",\"answer\":\"It explains that some metrics are ratios of potential needs to available drivers rather than direct measures of students per busload or hours driven, and that enrollment changes may not reflect real busing mileage needs.\"}]","Who’s Driving the bus? - Demand and Staffing Challenges for Wisconsin Licensed Bus Drivers | PDF",1792062794]