Three Rivers among several Michigan schools facing bus driver shortage

Three Rivers Community Schools will no longer need to cancel bus routes on a rotational basis starting on Tuesday, March 12.

The announcement, posted on the Three Rivers Community Schools Facebook page, stated that routes may still need to be canceled occasionally due to unforeseen circumstances, but the Three Rivers Community Schools Transportation Department said it wanted to thank the community for their patience during this time of bus driver shortages.

Bus driver shortages aren’t just an issue in Three Rivers, as there was “at least one instance of a major school bus driver shortage in every state (in 2023),” USA Today reported in August.

According to a report from Bridge Michigan, in a survey of 46 out of the 56 intermediate school districts in Michigan, more than half of the ISDs call bus drivers a critical shortage area. Wayne RESA, the ISD in Wayne County, estimates there are between 13,000 and 15,000 school bus drivers in the state.