Co-Principal Investigator: Cordes, Sarah A.

Purpose: In this project, researchers explored the potential relationship(s) among school busing, student characteristics, and student outcomes. For a large number of students in the U.S., the school day begins and ends with riding the school bus. However, little is known about who rides the bus, the daily bus experience (e.g., commute time, length), the distribution and variation in bus experiences, the size and nature of disparities in experiences across demographic or economic groups, or more generally how school bus services shape students' educational outcomes. Using data from New York City (NYC) Department of Education, researchers investigated the relationship between the school bus and student outcomes through three distinct studies. Findings from this project can be used to inform school district transportation policies, especially in urban districts (like NYC) where students choose among a widening array of charter, magnet, and traditional public schools spread over large geographic areas.

Project Activities: The research team conducted four studies. First, researchers examined the individual and school factors that may explain why some students ride the bus and others do not. In particular, researchers explored disparities in the use of the school bus and the potential role of the school in shaping utilization. Next, they explored the relationship between bus use and school choice, examining whether students who use the bus to attend a choice school attend a higher quality school than their zoned school. The final two studies explored the link between the bus and academic outcomes. First, the authors examined the extent to which receiving bus service improves attendance. Next, the authors examined the characteristics of bus commutes and explored the relationship between long bus rides and schooling outcomes.

Key Outcomes: The main findings of this exploratory study were as follows:

• Black students are more likely to be eligible for bus services than White students but are less likely to be assigned bus service (Cordes et al, 2020).
• The largest barrier to bus use among Black and Hispanic students is that they are more likely to attend schools that do not offer the bus (Weinstein et al, 2022).
• Students, especially Black and Hispanic students, who use transportation to attend a choice school are more likely to attend a significantly better school than their zoned school (Cordes & Schwartz, 2018).
• Students who ride the bus have significantly lower rates of absenteeism than non-riders, although much of this difference is explained by differences in the schools attended by bus riders (Cordes et al, 2019).
• The average bus ride is relatively short—only 21 minutes—and the vast majority of bus riders have commutes of less than 30 minutes (Cordes et al, 2022).
• Bus commutes over 45 minutes are deleterious to student outcomes, increasing chronic absenteeism among students who attend district choice school and potentially decreasing test scores among charter school students (Cordes et al, 2022).

Structured Abstract

Setting: The study explored school buses in context of New York City (NYC) public schools. As the largest school district in the country, NYC serves over one million students attending over one thousand public schools of varying size and organizational characteristics in five different boroughs.

Sample: The sample included approximately 1,050,000 unique NYC students in grades K–6 attending over 1,200 unique public schools from academic years 2010–11 to 2014–15, excluding fulltime special education students. This included students from diverse backgrounds (including Black, Hispanic, White and Asian), of whom nearly 85 percent are poor (defined by eligibility for subsidized lunch) and roughly 40 percent speak a language other than English at home.

Intervention: The intervention was the NYC public school bus transportation system. School administrators in NYC have considerable discretion over whether to provide bus services, as well as the specifics of bus services.

Research Design and Methods: Researchers used a descriptive research design relying on secondary data analysis obtained from a variety of administrative sources, including individual-level pupil transportation data on school bus eligibility and bus route features linked with student records on academic performance, attendance, home address, and sociodemographic characteristics. Researchers described the commute to school in terms of time and distance and examined the characteristics of bus riders. Next, the research team explored disparities in bus utilization, comparing students who take the bus to those who do not, and examining what individual and school characteristics predicted utilization. Finally, researchers examined how the utilization and characteristics of bus services shape student outcomes. For each of these analyses, researchers explored the variation both between and within schools and neighborhoods.

Control Condition: There was no control condition in this project.

Key Measures: The cornerstone of this research project was the construction of a set of variables capturing the eligibility, utilization, and timing (pickup and drop-off time, commute time to school, etc.) of school bus service in NYC. Key student outcomes included student performance on New York State standardized ELA and math exams, attendance in school, and participation in school breakfast. Other measures described student socio-demographic characteristics, as well as school organizational, locational, and institutional characteristics that may predict the likelihood that schools have bus service (school start and end times, school grade span, assignment/enrollment policies, etc.).

Data Analytic Strategy: This project used multiple analytic strategies, including descriptive statistics, multivariate regression, and fixed effects. Researchers conducted a series of descriptive analyses of the characteristics of bus utilization. Researchers also estimated a series of regression models (1) linking characteristics of bus service to student sociodemographic variables (models vary by school-fixed effects, census track fixed effects, student sub-groups, and years), (2) linking bus utilization to eligibility, and (3) linking bus service characteristics to student outcomes (models vary by school-fixed effects, census tract fixed effects, and route effects).

Related IES Projects: The National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (R305C180025)

Products and Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

Select Publications

Book chapters Cordes, S. A., Leardo, M., Rick, C., & Schwartz, A. (2019). Can school buses drive down (chronic) absenteeism. Absent from school: Understanding and addressing student absenteeism, 121–136.

Journal articles

Cordes, S. A., Rick, C., & Schwartz, A. E. (2022). Do Long Bus Rides Drive Down Academic Outcomes?. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 44(4), 689–716.

Cordes, S. A., Weinstein, M., Rick, C., & Schwartz, A. E. (2020). Why Doesn't Everyone Get a Bus? Understanding Inequities in School Bus Transportation across Schools and Students in New York City. Green Schools Catalyst Quarterly, 7(3), 40–49.

Weinstein, M., Cordes, S. A., Rick, C., & Schwartz, A. E. (2022). Riding the Yellow School Bus: Equity in bus transportation across districts, schools, and students. Urban Education, 00420859221114084.

Non-government peer-reviewed report

Cordes, S. A., & Schwartz, A. E. (2019). Does Pupil Transportation Close the School Quality Gap? Evidence from New York City. Research Report. Updated. Urban Institute.