HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania is investing more than $1.1 million to train more than 430 new school bus drivers, expanding efforts to address driver shortages and improve the reliability and safety of student transportation statewide.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation awarded grants to 26 school districts and transportation providers across 19 counties through its School Bus Safety Grant Program. The funding will cover commercial driver’s license training, trainee wages, permit and testing fees, and other costs associated with preparing new school bus drivers.
PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said the funding is intended to help schools recruit and train qualified drivers while supporting the state’s broader investment in public education.
“Making sure we have enough qualified drivers to get students to and from school safely and reliably advances that investment,” Carroll said. “This funding gives schools and communities the support they need to ensure students can focus on learning and achieve success.”
The grants represent the Shapiro administration’s second investment in school bus safety this year and are funded through Pennsylvania’s School Bus Safety Grant Program.
The program receives funding from Pennsylvania’s School Bus Stopping Law, which directs $25 from every $300 civil penalty issued through automated school bus stop-arm enforcement cameras to the grant program.
Grant funding may be used for commercial learner’s permit instruction, CDL training, school bus endorsement training and other education and safety initiatives related to school transportation.
Among the largest awards were $100,000 to Mlaker LLC in Somerset County, $99,000 to P & D Leasing Transportation in Lackawanna County, $90,000 to Pocono Transportation Inc. in Lackawanna County, $81,633 to the Allentown School District and $81,250 to HE Rohrer LLC in Perry County.
In southeastern Pennsylvania, grants included $47,084 for the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District in Delaware County; $38,498 for the Neshaminy School District, $18,888 for Levy School Bus Company and $8,100 for the Bristol Township School District in Bucks County; and $6,395 for the Upper Dublin School District in Montgomery County.
PennDOT also reminded motorists that Pennsylvania law requires drivers traveling in either direction to stop at least 10 feet from a school bus when its red lights are flashing and stop arm is extended, unless the bus is on the opposite side of a divided highway separated by a physical barrier.
According to Operation Safe Stop 2025, participating school districts and law enforcement agencies reported 188 violations of Pennsylvania’s School Bus Stopping Law during a single day of enforcement, up from 176 violations reported the previous year.
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