The Albuquerque Public School District is the 34th largest school district in the nation serving over 89,000 children. APS Student Transportation Services oversees 17 bus contractors that transport over 38,000 of the district's children each day to over 140 locations. For the 2006-2007 school year, APS uses 419 contract buses and 80 additional spare buses. Collectively, APS buses travel over 6.08 million miles annually. School transportation is provided throughout the regular school year and during the summer for those schools on a "Year Round Calendar" or an "Extended School Year." In addition, transportation is provided for various school-sponsored activities.
Providing transportation services involves a number of planning tasks. For general transportation, the department establishes bus stop locations and times, studies hazardous walk zones, and determines the limits of walk zones (1 mile for elementary, 1.5 for middle and 2 miles for high schools). Coordinating transportation for special education students involves determining the type of bus needed, and transportation to activities involves planning one-time transportation for athletics, field trips, etc. The department also reviews routes on a regular basis to determine the most efficient/economical routes, and trains bus drivers.