Now that a new school year has started, buses are on the road again. Which got us thinking—what does it take to transport thousands of students a day in the Border Belt?
So we looked at figures from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction for the 2024-2025 school year, the most recent data available. The following information includes Bladen County Schools, Columbus County Schools, Public Schools of Robeson County, Scotland County Schools, and Whiteville City Schools.
443
The number of buses used by the five school districts.
17,700
The number of students who rode the bus.
5 Million
Roughly the number of miles traveled. That’s about double the number from the 2020-2021 school year.
Robeson County schools, by far the largest district in the region with more than 20,000 students, had 223 buses that traveled nearly 1.8 million miles in 2024-2025.
$16.2 Million
Roughly the amount spent to operate buses.
$1,404.98
The amount Bladen County Schools spent per-pupil on transportation. That’s more than any other district in the Border Belt.