Increasing school transportation costs are another consequence of rampant sprawl as buses are traveling greater lengths to pick up students, according to a new study from an anti-sprawl advocacy group.
“Fuel costs are going up, and the costs of buying buses and insuring drivers are going up,” said Dru Schmidt-Perkins, executive director for 1000 Friends of Maryland.
“Local government can?t control that, but they do control how much development is in their jurisdiction and where schools are located.”
In the past 15 years, school bus costs have more than doubled to $438 million, according to the report released Thursday. Statewide, bus costs rose 104 percent, increasing at a faster rate than the number of students transported.
In five counties, the budgets increased despite a decrease in the number of students they transported. Costs in nine counties rose more than 100 percent.
To blame, at least in part, is sprawling development to areas farther from schools and other infrastructure, according to the advocacy, which acknowledged other factors, such as inflation, wage increases and gas prices.
Counties should be maintaining existing schools and making them accessible to bikes and pedestrians, the group said. Local governments also should ensure communities are designed efficiently and built in areas with existing infrastructure.
Growth is the No. 1 factor for the increase in transportation spending for Howard County Public Schools, said schools Director of Transportation David Drown.
In addition, the cost of diesel fuel is more than $3 a gallon, compared with less than a dollar 15 years ago. Labor costs are higher, and a special needs bus now runs close to $100,000, twice what it cost 15 years ago, he said.
Economist Anirban Basu, head of Baltimore economic and policy firm Sage Policy Group Inc., said the state?s Smart Growth policy, which aims to target growth, has seen mixed results, and some developments continue to spread out.
“This is one more reason to analyze our development patterns statewide and try to create situations where there is more density and more economic efficiency,” he said.
BY THE NUMBERS
From 1992 to 2006:
» Anne Arundel: Total transportation costs rose 65 percent; number of students transported rose 22 percent.
» Baltimore: Costs rose 107 percent; students rose 24 percent.
» Carroll: Costs rose 99 percent; students rose 37 percent.
» Harford: Costs rose 89 percent; students rose 31 percent.
» Howard: Costs rose 131 percent; students rose 67 percent.
* Baltimore City was not included because the system mainly relies on public transportation
Source: 1000 Friends of Maryland
