Houston ISD bus route changes for school choice students

HOUSTON - As thousands of students begin their countdown to the classroom, Houston ISD has announced changes to its school choice transportation system.

At the start of this school year, those students will be picked up and dropped off within three miles of their homes instead of the previous two miles. HISD also decreased the number of bus routes from 508 last school year to 423.

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Students who attend their zoned school or have special needs will not be affected by these changes, but families who are can expect to get their new routes by the end of July, according to the district.

In a release. HISD says they're making these adjustments to reduce time on the bus and improve efficiency in the system, but it also has to do with their bottom line.

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They say the previous administration spent more than $50 million on transport infrastructure for roughly 9,000 zoned and school choice students. The release goes on to say the way it was done before is not sustainable for the upcoming school year.

With all of this, the district estimates savings of $3 million. With that, combined with improving the way they dispatch and manage their buses, HISD has a goal of cutting $10 million in costs.