How School Bus Drivers Use Math Every Day in Their Jobs
Claudia Zavala puts her math skills to work in the same school district that raised her. The proud Los Angeles Unified School District graduate currently works as a transportation router at the district's Transportation Services Division offices in downtown L.A. This management role involves coordinating the bus routes of thousands of students in the district. In Whittier Union High School District's transportation department, Marcus Zapata uses math in expected and not-so-expected ways, whether his day takes him into the office for administrative tasks or aboard a school bus to train new drivers.
Zavala started exploring job options on the LAUSD website in 2009 after working in an after-school program.
"They had a flyer promoting bus driver positions with free training," shares Zavala, who grew up in Echo Park and actually never needed to ride an LAUSD bus because she was always within walking distance to school. "I had worked with students before, so it was an interest I had of just being able to drive a school bus. So, I applied."
Zavala's student population consisted primarily of people enrolled in special education programs, from young preschoolers to adults. As a substitute bus driver, her workweek could take her to different schools within the district. However, one thing remained constant: "My priority has always been to transfer students to make them feel comfortable," she says, "and for them to have a safe trip within their journey from home to school."
She emphasizes that a school bus driver must remain focused to achieve that. Once she started driving, it meant being aware of all the vehicles and pedestrians along the route and limiting her interaction with the students during the trip.
"The most interaction you have with the students will probably be at the beginning of the day when you pick them up because you're normally the first person they see," recalls Zavala, who always made it a point to give her student riders a positive start to their day with a friendly greeting each morning. "[Speaking] both Spanish and English helped me to be effective when speaking with students, parents and co-workers," she adds.
The job also called for her to practice one of her strongest subjects from her LAUSD student days. "When I was a driver, throughout the day, I used math to analyze [travel time] for problem-solving," Zavala explains. "I would calculate the time from point A to point B" to get students to school and home on time and remain in compliance with an important LAUSD bus policy: Student travel time should not exceed 90 minutes. This was not always an easy task considering L.A. traffic can be unpredictable.
Sample math problem from Zavala's day: She had eight stops along a route, and they were within five minutes of each other. How much time would it take to get from the school to the last student's home? How much extra time would she need in between stops in case there was traffic?
The math didn't stop there. "I was also counting students as they got onto the bus to make sure I had a count of 10 at the end of the day," which was the number of students assigned on her route.
In 2021, Zavala was promoted to assistant area bus supervisor and then, this year, to transportation router. Math continues to be part of her workday in her current role as she meets students' transportation needs. "Say, there are 100 students that need transportation in one particular school," she poses as an example equation. "We have to figure out how many buses are we going to use for these 100 students."
Her responsibilities and the number of students she accommodates daily have increased significantly. "Each router has 150 to 200 schools and each school, about 200 routes," she says, with a range of 10 to upwards of 65 students per route. We'll let you do the math to calculate how many student riders she oversees in total — it's a lot.
"Math can be complex, or it can be versatile. You can use it to solve problems or as simple as counting money when you're going to a restaurant … [or] help you understand with telling time," the transportation veteran says. "I use numbers every day, such as phone numbers, student I.D. numbers, route numbers and the calendar. I use math when analyzing data in student transportation reports. I love math because I love the challenge, and finding the answer to solve a math problem can be very satisfying."
Fun fact: The Transportation Services Division serves more than 30,000 students daily. Nearly 10,000 special education students ride LAUSD buses to school.
East of downtown L.A., in the Whittier Union High School District, Marcus Zapata had a different route to becoming a bus driver. He grew up and attended school in the nearby city of La Habra, where he remembers riding school buses to competitions as a member of his high school's marching band. His professional experience began as a vehicle transporter for a rental car company in Orange County. Then, in 2018, he shifted gears.
"I knew someone who was originally a school bus driver," Zapata says. "After three long months of studying and training, I got my school bus certification, and here I am!"
Zapata has had a few different jobs within his district's transportation department, and math has come into play in different ways. "Some expected ways I use math at work would be having to keep track of the miles that I drive in the bus because we have to report expenditures and fuel costs at the end of each school year," Zapata shares.
Other math components of his job are more subtle. For example, he uses math to track air brakes "when they fill back up with air, and how much air we are losing on the buses," in addition to ensuring that they are fully functional every day for safe operation. "There are many other state laws that we have to follow, and there are so many numbers to remember!"
In March 2019, Zapata transitioned to clerk, a role in which he managed field-trip billing, driver time sheets, and other administrative tasks that had him using math every day. Now, he trains other school bus drivers, "but I still cover routes whenever needed, so every day is different for me!"
Zapata and Zavala's math education has helped them find fulfillment in their school transportation careers. Zavala says the most rewarding aspect of her job as a bus driver is "being able to see students graduate from middle school, and seeing the students then move onto their next chapter in life." Meanwhile, Zapata feels "a massive sense of accomplishment knowing that I did my best to transport the kids to school or home safely." He appreciates the opportunity to get to know his students personally. "[It] is very gratifying because I know I'm making a difference in their lives."
