How Hillsborough County Public Schools Modernized Transportation During a Bus Driver Shortage

Headquartered in Tampa, Hillsborough County Public Schools spans 1,266 square miles in west central Florida. Laura Hill, the General Manager of Transportation for the district, is responsible for transporting 80,000 students every school day across 800 planned bus routes in a county roughly the size of Rhode Island.

Hill started her career as a secretary at one of Hillsborough’s schools. Next, she drove a school bus while putting herself through college to become a teacher. “I fell in love with transportation,” she said. “I tried to help everywhere I went, and my boss ended up recruiting me to the office. I worked my way up over 24 years.”

Hill first saw the benefit of Alternative Student Transportation firsthand when she partnered with EverDriven as a routing manager for the district in 2017. As unprecedented challenges arose, the partnership between EverDriven and Hillsborough’s transportation department deepened. Here’s how EverDriven helped Hillsborough County Public Schools maintain continuity during a crisis.

The COVID-19 Crisis Created a Bus Driver Shortage

Before COVID-19, Hillsborough County Public Schools was already struggling with a bus driver shortage. When schools reopened in Tampa after the initial COVID-19 crisis, the situation became even more challenging. “We lost more than 100 drivers just that one year. Most of our senior drivers were terrified and retired or found other jobs. Some chose to deliver packages because they were scared of getting sick. The shortage hit us really, really, really hard,” she said.

Without the staff, Hill was concerned that the school district wouldn’t be able to fulfill its promise and its mission to get every student to school. That was when she turned to a resource already integrated into their team: EverDriven.

“I love kids. I love taking care of our kids and making sure that they get to and from school. We’ve worked with EverDriven and tried other service providers. I’ll be honest with you: We have had a couple of experiences that were not pleasant. But the EverDriven model is so centered around children. It’s not an Uber service. It’s not merely a taxi. Relationships are always being built with parents, and they have excellent communication with schools.”

EverDriven built on the foundation that had been established through the years and ramped up to support Hillsborough in their time of need.

A Student-Centered Solution for a Complex Challenge

During the crisis, Laura Hill got creative. She shifted many of the district’s bus drivers from small vans that offered specialized transportation to consolidated bus routes. At the same time, she contracted EverDriven to take charge of hard-to-serve, specialized transportation for approximately 400 students.

“We depend on EverDriven to manage the trips that were outside the normal bus route. Otherwise, those kids wouldn’t make it to school,” Hill said. “When you have a program for a hearing-impaired child that is at the complete opposite end of the county from where the student lives, it’s not fiscally responsible to use a yellow school bus to do that type of transportation. Alternative Student Transportation is much more cost-efficient and better for the child because they’re not sitting on a bus that long. It’s been such a blessing.” For Hillsborough, the partnership has been a win-win situation: Students with specific needs receive personalized transportation, allowing Hill’s team to focus on managing bus routes.

Maintaining a Sustainable Transportation Strategy With Strategic Support

Even though Hill has steadily increased the number of bus drivers on their roster with a dynamic approach to recruitment and retention, she continued the partnership with the EverDriven team beyond the crisis. “The need for Alternative Student Transportation is probably not going away. The number of students and the size of our county are both so large,” Hill said.

The flexibility of the partnership also underpins Hill’s bus operations. For example, her team can ensure continuity of transportation for students experiencing housing instability without constantly adjusting the bus schedule to adapt to their location. “Students eligible for McKinney-Vento support are so transient. If we temporarily put a child on a bus route, adjust all the other students’ schedules, get the route implemented and notify everybody, the student may have moved again at that point.”

When we transport those students in small-capacity vehicles, we can adjust to their schedule and change pickup and drop-off locations easily—without affecting other students.

She credits the success of the partnership to EverDriven’s high-touch, full-service support, which matches the care
her own team brings to the job. “Our service person at EverDriven is the most responsive person we’ve ever had—
and in any kind of situation we deal with, too. He shares that same level of care for the kids. I find him constantly going above and beyond to take care of Hillsborough County schools and our students. That’s an experience you don’t get everywhere.” By coordinating, collaborating, and troubleshooting with families and school staff, EverDriven saves her team time and hassle every day. “He’s an amazing communicator, and I really feel like that’s the difference,” she summarized.

EverDriven has become an extension of the Hillsborough County Schools transportation department over the last eight years. Hill noted that there are students who have been driven by EverDriven for four or even six years—
some for the entirety of their high school experience. “It’s a long-term commitment,” she said.