ST. LOUIS – Hundreds of St. Louis high school students will ride a MetroBus, rather than a traditional school bus, to start the new school year.

The change comes as the St. Louis Public School District navigates through challenges with its transportation plans , stemming from a driver shortage and a terminated contract with a school bus supplier.

The new school year officially begins on Aug. 19. SLPS coordinated with MetroTransit to provide student semester passes for hundreds of high school students seeking transportation to and from school.

Metro Transit created a “How to Ride” video and informational flyer , which were made available to SLPS high school students and their parents last week. The resources will help students determine what MetroBus route their teen will need to take, where the closest bus stop is to their home, and what time they need to catch the bus to get to school on time.

“Metro Transit transports tens of thousands of customers safely every day and we look forward to welcoming a new generation to our transit system,” said Taulby Roach, Bi-State Development President and CEO. Bi-State Development operates the Metro Transit system for the St. Louis region. “We are engaged and want to help the young people in our community during this extremely challenging time for SLPS.”

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Metro Transit says it will be keeping the lines of communication with SLPS open and meeting on a regular basis with a very fluid situation anticipated over the first few weeks of the new school year.

Meanwhile, the Missouri Auditor’s Office is moving forward with an audit of SLPS . The district is also dealing with budget deficit and some sudden staff departures.

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