CINCINNATI — First Student, Inc., the nation’s leader in student transportation, has been awarded the contract for statewide out-of-district student transportation with the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Providence, R.I., beginning July 1, 2009. First Student is part of Cincinnati-based FirstGroup America, North America’s largest transportation company.
The three-year agreement, with an additional two-year option, includes the operation and maintenance of all out-of-district student transportation services for school districts across the state. Out-of-district transportation refers to transportation for students with disabilities and students in nonpublic schools who attend schools outside of their local school district. First Student will operate a fleet of 145 vehicles the first year, and that number is expected to grow to more than 250 vehicles as additional school districts are phased in over the length of the contract.
Linda Bell, president of First Student said: “We are pleased to be chosen to provide student transportation services for the Rhode Island Department of Education in their first statewide school bus services contract. By outsourcing transportation services, they will be able to lower costs without compromising safety and focus their resources on education rather than transportation. This contract will consolidate routes throughout multiple school districts and will obtain operational, routing and fuel efficiencies. School buses already are the safest way for students to get to and from school, and First Student works continuously to make the experience even better for the students who ride on our buses and for the school districts we serve.”
“We are excited to begin one of our most far-reaching cross-district initiatives, as we implement our first statewide system of transportation for students with disabilities and for students in nonpublic schools,” said Peter McWalters, R.I. Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. “We anticipate that during the first year of this program school districts across Rhode Island, through efficiencies and economy of scale, will save at least $3.5 million in transportation costs. These funds can be redirected toward improvements in instruction. We are pleased to welcome First Student as our partner in this new statewide transportation system.”
First Student’s core values of safety and customer satisfaction are evident through the regular investments in its fleet, adoption of new technologies and enactment of stringent safety policies and operational procedures. First Student drivers are skilled professionals who are trained to provide the highest level of safety for the 3 million students they transport to and from school each day.
