End of Year Review: Safety & Technology Trends of 2025
Release Date: 12/09/2025
2025 in Review: Top STN Online Articles
School Transportation Nation
Tony, Ryan and Taylor discuss the most-read online articles from stnonline.com during 2025, which focused on illegal passing incidents, school bus driver misconduct and students injured or killed. Training is needed for students, parents and drivers. Read all our . Episode sponsor: Transfinder.
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2025 in Review: Top STN Magazine Articles
School Transportation Nation
Tony, Ryan and Taylor discuss the most-read School Transportation News magazine articles from 2025, which focused on student safety, operational efficiency and technological advancement. STN also recognized outstanding individuals and teams in the industry through programs like Innovator of the Year, Garage Stars, Rising Stars and Transportation Director of the Year. Read all our . Episode sponsor: Transfinder.
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End of Year Review: Safety & Technology Trends of 2025
School Transportation Nation
The school bus industry focuses on safety and service amidst students killed by both passing motorists and their own school buses as well as federal shifts in funding and changes to the Department of Education. Plus, we revisit the 2021 murder of a school bus driver and school bus security. From routing to training, Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella talks top technology trends of 2025 and the upcoming annual Top Transportation Teams competition. Read more about . Episode sponsor: Transfinder.
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This Is My Path: Washington State’s Youngest Transportation Directors
School Transportation Nation
Analysis on the annual National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey which found six students were killed by school buses over the 2024-2025 school year, a safety PSA in the works around the upcoming Super Bowl, and new plans to dismantle the Department of Education. We are joined by the two youngest transportation directors in Washington state, Cassidy Miller (22) of Cashmere School District, also a Child Passenger Safety Technician and a 2024 STN Rising Star, and her boyfriend Bowen Mitchell (24) at Entiat School District. They discuss leadership strategies, operational insights,...
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Always Something to Learn: Special Needs Takeaways from TSD 2025
School Transportation Nation
Tony, Ryan and Taylor recap the lessons, experiences and takeaways from the Transporting Students with Disabilities & Special Needs (TSD) Conference and Trade Show last week. It covered evacuation training in a smoke-filled school bus, legal issues like onboard sexual assaults or objectionable clothing, tips to promote good student behavior, an in-depth session on deafness and much more. Read more . Episode sponsors: Transfinder, RIDE, School Radio.
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Onsite at TSD 2025 (Part 2/2): Solution-Driven Partners + TD of the Year Interview
School Transportation Nation
EverDriven CEO Mitch Bowling reviews how the alternative transportation company prioritizes safety standards and promotes collaborative brainstorming to provide safe service to the ever-growing population of students with special needs. AlphaRoute CEO John Hanlon shares real-life stories about districts that have optimized daily operations by leveraging routing technology and discusses how the upcoming AI solution “Alphie” can help. Keba Baldwin is the director of transportation for Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland and STN’s newest Transportation Director of the...
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Onsite at TSD 2025 (Part 1/2): Mission-Critical Partners for Special Needs Transportation
School Transportation Nation
Marty Savino, national account manager for School-Radio, shares how reliable bus radios support student safety and provide dependable communication services for school bus operations. For the three-year anniversary of the founding of FirstAlt by First Student, Vice President Gregg Prettyman addresses common misconceptions about alternative transportation safety standards, as well as a Samsara partnership incorporating live video for added oversight. Tim Logan, director of transportation for Garland Independent School District in Texas, and John Daniels, vice president of marketing for...
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Catalyst for Change: Electric School Bus Safety, Inspired Texas Rising Star
School Transportation Nation
Discover the new STN Transportation Director of the Year featured on our cover. Other headlines include a after a driverless Waymo car illegally passed a stopped school bus and following a Texas school bus crash. Frank Girardot, senior communications director for RIDE, discusses the electric school bus manufacturer’s School Bus Safety Week efforts. Jennifer Gardella, director of transportation for Rockwall Independent School District in Texas and a 2025 STN Rising Star, discusses her childcare background, improving student relationships, training staff and receiving inspiration from...
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Nuts and Bolts: Transportation Director of the Year Talks Data-Focused Oregon Ops
School Transportation Nation
After a year of being STN’s , Craig Beaver of Beaverton School District in Oregon joins us to discuss the ins and outs of running a large mixed-fleet school bus operation, pushing the limits with technology and data, navigating current federal changes, and looking to the future of the industry. Read more about . Episode sponsors: Transfinder, School Bus Safety Co., RIDE.
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Encourage, not Discourage: NY Top Transportation Team Talks Work Culture
School Transportation Nation
Headlines on “The Lost Bus” movie set during recent California wildfires, a school bus Wi-Fi solution for fiscal year 2025, a $10 million Ohio safety grant for seatbelts, and a Maryland school bus driver union sending flyers home with students to gain parental support of a strike. Gregg Fox, transportation director for Franklin Square Union Free School District in New York and a 2025 Top Transportation Teams Award , discusses improving workplace culture, retaining staff amid a changing economy, leveraging technology for efficiency and meeting the challenging state electrification mandate....
info_outlineThe school bus industry focuses on safety and service amidst students killed by both passing motorists and their own school buses as well as federal shifts in funding and changes to the Department of Education. Plus, we revisit the 2021 murder of a school bus driver and school bus security.
From routing to training, Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella talks top technology trends of 2025 and the upcoming annual Top Transportation Teams competition.
Read more about operations.
Episode sponsor: Transfinder.