The National School Transportation Association hosts its annual Capitol Hill Bus-In this week for school bus contractor members to bring concerns to members of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Approximately 50 representatives from different school bus contractor companies will have the chance to meet one-on-one with legislators, to address issues that are specific to the industry. The event started Tuesday with a briefing from NSTA’s government relations firm, Prime Policy Group, and continues Wednesday.
The focus of this year’s event is “encouragement of outsourcing of pupil transportation services by public school districts,” said NSTA Executive Director Tiffany Boykin. To that end, the organization said it seeks to establish a partnership with the Department of Education, to help districts understand the benefits of using school bus contractors. Over 200 individual meetings are planned during the event.
NSTA members will “seek support from the Department of Education to provide cost-analysis tools to public school districts, to assess their transportation costs and consider outsourcing,” Boykin told STN. She added that a reduced cost is only “one of the benefits of outsourcing.”
“This event is crucial to NSTA’s federal legislation efforts, and helping Washington, D.C. understand and recognize the issues that face our industry,” stated NSTA President Blake Krapf.
“The Bus-In is critical in ensuring that elected officials hear from leaders in the private school bus contracting community on important issues that affect their ability to grow their businesses, and ultimately, ensure the continued safe transport of children to and from school,” Boykin said. “It’s important for elected officials to hear directly from the contractors.”
