Wake schools have more bus drivers than last year. How that will affect riders.
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- Wake County added 32 bus drivers, assigning permanent staff to all 564 routes.
- Extended wait times persist, with some students arriving 40 minutes early or late.
- Driver recruitment includes higher pay, bonuses and targeted HR marketing efforts.
Wake County will start the new school year with 32 more bus drivers than a year ago, which will help to relieve the strain of transporting around 60,000 riders each day.
Wake County school administrators reported Tuesday having 605 school bus drivers, compared to 573 in August of last year. The additional drivers mean all 564 bus routes have a permanent driver assigned to them with extra drivers who can fill in when someone is out.
The situation is significantly better than in 2023, when the school year opened with thousands of students getting to school late due to Wake not having enough drivers.
“This is welcome news compared to prior school years,” said school board member Lindsay Mahaffey.
But even with the additional drivers, some students will arrive 40 minutes before classes start and leave 40 minutes after classes end.
Wake has in the past tried to drop off students no earlier than 30 minutes before the morning bell and take them home within 30 minutes of classes ending. Schools need to provide staff to watch the students.
“We know the hardships that it brings about so we are cognizant of it and will continue to work on bringing it back to the 30-minute parameter,” Bob Snidemiller, senior director for transportation, told the school board.
Traditional-calendar schools will open on Monday. Nearly 90,000 students have registered for bus service but Snidemiller said only around 70% actually ride the bus.
National school bus driver shortage
Wake used to have more than 930 bus drivers. In 2019, Wake had 729 drivers for 764 bus routes. But like other school districts across the nation, Wake has been losing drivers.
School bus drivers have been quitting the profession or using their commercial driver’s license to get higher paid jobs driving public transit buses and trucks.
Wake dropped to as few as 560 bus drivers at the start of the 2022-23 school year.
The lack of drivers has forced Wake in recent years to sharply reduce the number of bus routes. This includes eliminating some long-distance diversity routes where Wake transported students from low-income neighborhoods to schools in more affluent areas.
Wake also began using “double-back” routes, where drivers make multiple runs for the same school. Some students are dropped off at school earlier than normal in the morning and others have to stay later in the afternoon before a bus takes them home.
Wake has also expanded the use of “hub systems,” where magnet school students go to a central location to get on the bus instead of having door-to-door bus service.
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Higher pay and increased recruiting efforts
Wake has ramped up its efforts in recent years to recruit more drivers.
The district has a marketing campaign with advertising on television, radio and social media to attract drivers. The pay was raised so bus drivers now make at least $20 per hour and can earn up to $4,000 a year in bonuses.
There’s also a dedicated position in the district’s Human Resources Department focused on recruiting drivers.
Snidemiller said he’d ideally like to have 200 more drivers. But overall, he said the district is in good shape.
“We just need more drivers to be able to do more,” Snidemiller said.
Wake needs more drivers for special-ed students
Wake is also looking for more drivers to transport an estimated 3,600 students who can’t ride in regular yellow school buses. Wake contracts with private companies to transport special-needs, homeless and Pre-K students.
Wake contracted with six companies to operate 283 vehicles. But currently the companies can only provide a driver for 240 routes.
Wake is projecting 1,200 families will opt into a program where they get paid a stipend for driving their special-needs child to and from school. The program is estimated to cost Wake $2.7 million.
This story was originally published August 19, 2025 at 5:02 PM.
