The Southwest Transportation Agency is a non-profit agency that provides busing services to 13 local educational agencies in Fresno County to ensure approximately 7,000 students make it to and from school safely every day.
Launched in 1988, the program was initially developed by five small school districts: Caruthers Unified School District, Alvina Elementary School District, Monroe ESD, Laton Joint USD and Riverdale Joint USD.
On May 1, CSBA Public Affairs and Community Engagement Representative Cecilio Barrera and Kathy Spate, Caruthers USD trustee and CSBA Region 10 Director, toured the transportation facilities and spoke to Agency Director Gary Geringer to learn more about how the Southwest Transportation Agency supports LEAs in the region. CSBA is recognizing the work of small districts through the Small Schools, Big Ideas blog series.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you briefly explain how the program/initiative works and why it was started?
The Southwest Transportation Agency is a public Joint Powers Authority (JPA), which serves 13 school districts in Southwest Fresno County. The agency was formed by five school districts in 1988 and has added eight associate member districts over the years. The impetus for forming a transportation JPA was to provide the safest, most cost-effective transportation possible.
What short- and long-term outcomes would the agency like to see among districts that participate in the program?
The overall goal of this program, both short and long term, is to alleviate and facilitate the small school districts transportation efforts while also saving money for their districts. Today, the Agency operates 55 home-to-school routes, transporting 7,000 students (one-way) per day while traveling 1.3 million miles per year.
In 2004, the agency relocated to its current home, the Southwest Education Support Center. The center is a 17-acre state-of-the-art facility that accommodates parking for 100 school buses, houses a park-and-ride (a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters heading to city centers to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system or carpool) for 208 vehicles, first of its kind 15,000 L/CNG [liquid/compressed natural gas] fueling station and 16,000 square foot operations and maintenance center. The L/CNG fueling station has allowed the agency to expand its CNG school bus fleet from the original 10 buses received from the Katz Safe School Bus Program in 1991 to 41 CNG school buses today.
What challenges has the agency experienced and how did you overcome them?
At the beginning of the program there was some push back from communities around losing direct relationships with their local bus drivers. Some of the challenges faced through the years have been transportation cost increases, transportation funding, policy changes and staffing shortages. The communities are supportive of this program. Southwest has been able to adjust to the budget challenges by offering other services to create revenues. Some of those services include providing trainings for bus drivers (outside districts), extra-curricular trips (1,200 trips annually), mechanic repairs for buses outside of partner districts and information technology services. There is also a CNG station open to the public.
Southwest has also applied for various grants to help with funding. Some of the challenges with policy are adjusting buses to current law. Most of the current fleet is CNG, but there are seven electric buses and some diesel buses. The agency hired substitute bus drivers to help alleviate staffing shortages and most of the administrative staff and mechanics are licensed and permitted to drive school buses to help fill in the gaps when needed.
How have LEAs benefited from the program?
Districts participating in this program don’t have to worry about planning for transportation and can do it at a fraction of the cost compared to other districts of similar size that currently manage their own transportation department. Most of the districts also use Southwest IT Services for the same reason.
What are your agency’s plans moving forward?
Southwest wants to continue to provide safe quality transportation while keeping their mind open to additional services such as the new IT services. The agency has formed partnerships with local law enforcement and the California Highway Patrol to provide a safe place for them to park their vehicles and use their facilities, and also has a helicopter pad on site that has been used for local emergencies. Southwest is always looking for ways to add value to for districts and surrounding communities. For example, the agency has a street sweeper that is used for special school events.
What advice do you have for other small LEAs that want to establish a program like this?
Do it! Having these type of JPA’s is worth exploring but requires thorough planning. Make sure you do as much planning as possible, especially with current transportation costs rising and policies changing.
Who is the contact person for other small LEAs to contact with questions and/or to schedule a visit?
Gary Geringer, agency director: ggeringer@southwestjpa.org or (559) 644-1000
