Approximately 350 Knox County school buses travel almost 3 million miles each year, or nearly 20,000 miles each school day in rush hour traffic. According to the American School Bus Council, based on research from several federal studies, travel by school bus is the safest way for students to get to and from school.

Knox County Schools continues to make improvements to transportation to ensure the safe transport of all students who utilize school transportation through the programs listed below.

• Safety Check Ride Program. This program was implemented in January 2016 and KCS continues toward its goal of ensuring every bus driver receives a safety check ride from a trained assessor at least once every 18 months. The check ride rubric evaluates 120 specific tasks in 20 different areas of bus operation.
• Radios and GPS. All buses have been equipped with an 800 MHz radio system to improve communication and reduce the need to use cell phones for routine communication with contractors and dispatchers and all buses are in the process of being equipped with enhanced GPS monitoring systems that will feed to an upgraded bus locating application.
• Customer Service. The transportation customer service program continues to provide more immediate response to parent and citizen calls for service concerning transportation related issues.

For more information on the improvements and services being offered by Knox County Schools transportation, please visit knoxschools.org.