Research Reports

This study analyzed PA Department of Education data from 2013-14 to 2017-18 to examine changes in school enrollment, transportation, ridership, and transportation finances at the state, rural and urban levels. Declines in school enrollment were relatively gradual in urban school districts but more severe in rural school districts. On average, 95.8% of rural public school students relied on public school transportation. Transporting fewer students over large areas or longer distances drives up the cost per student transported in rural school districts. More school districts were seeking independent contractors for all or some of their transportation services during the study period. The continued decline in the number of transportation service providers in the "contracted service with the contractor" category may lead to an increased market share for some larger contractors. 

Traffic concerns, especially truck traffic and road safety, have been identified in a number of studies in the Marcellus Shale region. The number of additional trucks on the roads and the increased traffic due to gas worker transportation have raised significant concerns about the increased potential for accidents. Two recently published studies directly related to traffic and road safety are reviewed. This research describes three indicators of traffic - total crashes, heavy truck crashes, and crashes with fatalities. Overall, the findings suggest that the most rural counties in the northern tier experiencing the highest levels of development had increased absolute numbers and rates of total crashes and heavy truck crashes. These findings are consistent with previous studies.