Pasco County Schools Battle Worst Bus Driver Shortage in Years with Bonuses and Recruitment Fairs
Pasco County Schools operates with 45 unfilled bus routes as officials confront the worst driver shortage seen in two years. At the start of this school year, 60 routes sat…
Pasco County Schools operates with 45 unfilled bus routes as officials confront the worst driver shortage seen in two years. At the start of this school year, 60 routes sat empty. Fall hiring brought that down.
Nearly one-fifth of bus routes lack assigned drivers. Students arrive 5 to 20 minutes late on certain routes because of this, per Superintendent John Legg.
"We started the year with about 60 open bus routes. We're now down to about 45 open bus routes, but we need to get that to zero," Legg said, according to FOX 13.
The district depends on 28 relief drivers to cover vacant slots. These backup drivers jump in where necessary, yet gaps persist throughout the system.
"First, we have relief bus drivers, so we have about 28 relief bus drivers. Those are basically back-up bus drivers that we can send out to fill those spots," Legg said. "So they go in and fill those spots, if there's still open routes."
School board members heard proposals in November. A new incentive program will launch in January 2026. Officials plan to shift money from vacant positions into bonus payments for both current and incoming drivers.
Drivers who appear at least 90% of scheduled work days get $500 each quarter. Those willing to take on tough routes — ones plagued by chronic late arrivals — will pocket an extra $250 per quarter.
"It's $500 more for our bus drivers who show up at least 90% or more of the days that they're scheduled to work to incentivize them to be a bus driver and to show up. And then the second is it's another $250 for them to take on one of the challenging bus routes where there's not a lot of bus drivers and where we're having chronic late bus arrivals," Legg said.
The incentive program strives to retain existing drivers. It also seeks to lure new applicants into the profession.
A recruitment fair happens today from 4 to 6 p.m. at the district office in Land O' Lakes. The event targets filling remaining openings before 2026 begins.
