Programs & Partnerships

Committed to the Communities We Serve

Student Transportation of America believes there is more to being a best-in-class transportation provider than simply promising safe, reliable service. With more than 23,500 members of the STA Family, our school bus drivers, dispatchers, mechanics, safety team members, and many others play a unique and positive role in the lives of the students we transport. As a company, we are committed to being active in the communities we serve, from fundraisers and donating to local charities, to supporting causes and local organizations that our employees are passionate about.

Driving for a Cure, with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®

In November of 2022, STA announced its employee giving campaign to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in making a significant, positive impact on families in need. As part of our “Driving for a Cure” program, STA has committed a donation match up to $100,000 for funds raised by our employees. As a company, we are a family business rooted in our commitment to the communities we serve; therefore, St. Jude is a natural fit to support through an employee giving program. We align in our values of having a family-first approach and are honored to do our part to support the mission of St. Jude: Finding cures. Saving children®.

Click here to learn more.

Caring for Our Communities

Whether it’s a school supply fundraiser, working with underprivileged youth, or volunteering with a local non-profit, the charitable efforts of STA’s employees know no bounds. We collect canned goods for local food pantries, fill transportation needs for homeless veterans, and stuff holiday stockings for military families with loved ones serving overseas. We are committed to improving the quality of life in the communities we serve and believe passionately that what we do makes a difference for children and their families.

Wall of Fame Employee Recognition

STA’s Wall of Fame was established in 2012 to honor the truly extraordinary actions of those STA employees who go above and beyond by taking the extra steps to excel in their role, help others in need, and make a positive impact on the lives of the students who depend on them each day. Nominees are held to the highest criteria of safety, exceptional character, respect among their peers, and involvement with their local communities. The award is our most prestigious and widely adopted recognition program with nearly 100 exceptional recipients over the years. Inductees are recognized during a special ceremony attended by members of the STA Executive and Senior Leadership Teams and have their names engraved on the Wall of Fame in STA’s corporate headquarters.

Autism Acceptance Initiative

Throughout the year and especially in April during Autism Acceptance Month, we are proud to support the efforts of organizations such as Autism Speaks and the Autism Society in their mission to encourage acceptance through kindness and compassion. To do our part, we encourage employees to participate in the Kindness Counts Pledge. By spreading messages of awareness and positivity with the hashtags #KindnessCounts, #AutismAcceptance, and #STAFamily, the Kindness Pledge aims to create a kinder and more inclusive world for people on the autism spectrum and their loved ones.

Safety Programs

The cycle of success starts with treating employees well, and we do this by fostering a safety-driven culture that empowers our employees to feel proud of the work they do, delivering safe, reliable, and on-time service. Throughout the year we promote and participate in a number of different safety programs, including Anti-Bullying Awareness Month, National School Bus Safety Week, and much more.

Click here to learn more about our safety culture and the safety programs that help support it.

Environmental Initiatives

STA’s longstanding commitment to innovation and the environment has placed us at the forefront of the school transportation industry in the use of biofuel advancements, and now electric vehicle (EV) technology.

STA set the bar for school bus alternatives in 2012 when we earned our largest bid with Omaha and Millard Public Schools in Nebraska. We purchased more than 400 new, propane-powered vehicles, the largest all-propane school bus fleet in the industry at that time.

The following year, STA received the Sustainability All-Star Award for our leadership in running low-emission vehicles.

We continued to expand our “Green Fleet” initiative in markets across the country including New England and Pennsylvania, introducing the first all-propane fleet in St. Paul (MN), the youngest and largest LPG fleet in Grand Junction (CO), bringing propane buses to Oregon with contracts in Canby, Lake Oswego, and Tigard, adding alternative fuel vehicles to our operational density with Los Angeles Unified School District, and more.

In 2019, STA began making investments in our electric vehicle initiative and we continue to lead the industry with alternate powertrain and EV technology with our current EV pilot initiative in select rural, suburban, and urban markets.

Through funding provided by a variety of grants, incentive projects, and partnerships such as the Vermont Energy Invest Corporation, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), and the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Project (HVIP), STA aims to earn real-world intelligence from our pilot experience with EV battery life, generalized vehicle wear and tear, and other critical KPIs.

We are doing our due diligence and making investments now to track EV technology, enabling STA to act and continue to serve as the industry leader we are known to be. We are working with vehicle and charging station manufacturers as well as utility companies and other suppliers of the infrastructure needed to support a fleet of electric vehicles in order to address the total cost of fleet ownership. We will continue to pursue these initiatives so that electric vehicles can be widely adopted as the school transportation industry continues to move in that direction.