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Digest of Education Statistics
2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 236.90. Students transported at public expense and current expenditures for transportation: Selected years, 1929-30 through 2015-16
School year Average daily atten-
dance, all students
Students transported
at public expense
Expenditures for transportation
(in unadjusted dollars)1
Expenditures for transportation
(in constant 2017-18 dollars)2
Number Percent of total Total3 (in thousands) Average per
student
transported
Total3 (in thousands) Average per
student
transported
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1929-30 21,265,000 1,902,826   8.9 $54,823   $29   $794,708   $418  
1931-32 22,245,000 2,419,173   10.9 58,078   24   999,560   413  
1933-34 22,458,000 2,794,724   12.4 53,908   19   1,010,118   361  
1935-36 22,299,000 3,250,658   14.6 62,653   19   1,131,265   348  
1937-38 22,298,000 3,769,242   16.9 75,637   20   1,310,123   348  
                         
1939-40 22,042,000 4,144,161   18.8 83,283   20   1,478,689   357  
1941-42 21,031,000 4,503,081   21.4 92,922   21   1,478,730   328  
1943-44 19,603,000 4,512,412   23.0 107,754   24   1,534,380   340  
1945-46 19,849,000 5,056,966   25.5 129,756   26   1,764,929   349  
1947-48 20,910,000 5,854,041   28.0 176,265   30   1,877,079   321  
                         
1949-50 22,284,000 6,947,384   31.2 214,504   31   2,247,351   323  
1951-52 23,257,000 7,697,130   33.1 268,827   35   2,537,875   330  
1953-54 25,643,871 8,411,719   32.8 307,437   37   2,836,647   337  
1955-56 27,740,149 9,695,819   35.0 353,972   37   3,267,108   337  
1957-58 29,722,275 10,861,689   36.5 416,491   38   3,618,679   333  
                         
1959-60 32,477,440 12,225,142   37.6 486,338   40   4,106,902   336  
1961-62 34,682,340 13,222,667   38.1 576,361   44   4,757,807   360  
1963-64 37,405,058 14,475,778   38.7 673,845   47   5,421,129   374  
1965-66 39,154,497 15,536,567   39.7 787,358   51   6,122,728   394  
1967-68 40,827,965 17,130,873   42.0 981,006   57   7,157,525   418  
                         
1969-70 41,934,376 18,198,577   43.4 1,218,557   67   8,004,121   440  
1971-72 42,254,272 19,474,355   46.1 1,507,830   77   9,091,903   467  
1973-74 41,438,054 21,347,039   51.5 1,858,141   87   9,888,538   463  
1975-76 41,269,720 21,772,483   52.8 2,377,313   109   10,636,394   489  
1977-78 40,079,590 21,800,000 4 54.4 2,731,041   125 4 10,819,253   496 4
                         
1979-80 38,288,911 21,713,515   56.7 3,833,145   177   12,251,271   564  
1980-81 37,703,744 22,272,000 4 59.1 4,408,000 4 198 4 12,626,140 4 567 4
1981-82 37,094,652 22,246,000 4 60.0 4,793,000 4 215 4 12,637,267 4 568 4
1982-83 36,635,868 22,199,000 4 60.6 5,000,000 4 225 4 12,640,143 4 569 4
1983-84 36,362,978 22,031,000 4 60.6 5,284,000 4 240 4 12,881,304 4 585 4
                         
1984-85 36,404,261 22,320,000 4 61.3 5,722,000 4 256 4 13,423,629 4 601 4
1985-86 36,523,103 22,041,000 4 60.3 6,123,000 4 278 4 13,961,748 4 633 4
1986-87 36,863,867 22,397,000 4 60.8 6,551,000 4 292 4 14,613,230 4 652 4
1987-88 37,050,707 22,158,000 4 59.8 6,888,000 4 311 4 14,753,646 4 666 4
1988-89 37,268,072 22,635,000 4 60.7 7,550,000 4 334 4 15,457,714 4 683 4
                         
1989-90 37,799,296 22,459,000 4 59.4 8,030,990   358 4 15,693,621   699 4
1990-91 38,426,543 22,000,000 4 57.3 8,678,954   394 4 16,080,664   731 4
1991-92 38,960,783 23,165,000 4 59.5 8,769,754   379 4 15,744,414   680 4
1992-93 39,570,462 23,439,000 4 59.2 9,252,300   395 4 16,107,604   687 4
1993-94 40,146,393 23,858,000 4 59.4 9,627,155   404 4 16,337,002   685 4
                         
1994-95 40,720,763 23,693,000 4 58.2 9,889,034   417 4 16,313,802   689 4
1995-96 41,501,596 24,155,000 4 58.2 10,396,426   430 4 16,696,592   691 4
1996-97 42,262,004 24,090,000 4 57.0 10,989,809   456 4 17,159,975   712 4
1997-98 42,765,774 24,342,000 4 56.9 11,465,658   471 4 17,589,296   723 4
1998-99 43,186,715 24,898,000 4 57.7 12,224,454   491 4 18,434,229   740 4
                         
1999-2000 43,806,726 24,951,000 4 57.0 13,007,625   521 4 19,064,871   764 4
2000-01 44,075,930 24,471,000 4 55.5 14,052,654   574 4 19,914,267   814 4
2001-02 44,604,592 24,529,000 5 55.0 14,799,365   603 5 20,607,588   840 5
2002-03 45,017,360 24,621,000 5 54.7 15,648,821   636 5 21,321,849   866 5
2003-04 45,325,731 25,159,000 5 55.5 16,348,784   650 5 21,798,671   866 5
                         
2004-05 45,625,458 25,318,000 5 55.5 17,459,659   690 5 22,599,771   893 5
2005-06 45,931,617 25,252,000 5 55.0 18,850,234   746 5 23,504,629   931 5
2006-07 46,132,663 25,285,000 5 54.8 19,979,068   790 5 24,284,191   960 5
2007-08 46,155,880 25,221,000 5 54.6 21,536,978   854 4 25,242,483   1,001 4
2008-09 46,173,477   21,679,876   860 4 25,060,053   994 4
                         
2009-10 45,919,206   21,819,304   870 4 24,979,521   996 4
2010-11 46,118,737   22,370,807   888 4 25,106,763   997 4
2011-12 46,400,465   22,926,700   905 4 24,998,177   987 4
2012-13 46,553,754   23,237,941   914 4 24,922,790   981 4
2013-14 46,829,716   23,845,036   933 4 25,180,551   985 4
                         
2014-15 47,064,337   23,961,692   932 4 25,120,814   978 4
2015-16 47,247,505   24,325,894   943 4 25,331,812   982 4
—Not available.
1 Unadjusted (or “current”) dollars have not been adjusted to compensate for inflation.
2 Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
3 Excludes capital outlay for years through 1979-80, and 1989-90 to the latest year. From 1980-81 to 1988-89, total transportation figures include capital outlay.
4 Estimate based on data appearing in January issues of School Bus Fleet.
5 Estimate based on data reported by School Transportation News.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Statistics of State School Systems, 1929-30 through 1975-76; Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, 1977-78 and 1979-80; Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1987-88 through 2015-16; Bobit Publishing Co., School Bus Fleet, "School Transportation: 2000-2001 School Year" and "2010 Fact Book"; School Transportation News, "K-12 Enrollment/Transportation Data," 2001-02 through 2007-08; and unpublished data. (This table was prepared September 2018.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest