First Student is a school bus transportation provider serving over 1,100 school districts across the United States and Canada, with a fleet of 47,000 vehicles and technology for safety, tracking and EV charging.
First Student is the largest student transportation service provider in North America, carrying more than 4.6 million students to and from school each day. The company operates a fleet of some 47,000 vehicles from over 500 locations across the United States and Canada, serving more than 1,100 school districts. It has been in operation for over 100 years and employs approximately 63,000 people.
The company pairs its operating scale with a technology programme built around HALO, a proprietary platform that combines AI-powered safety tools, predictive maintenance and real-time visibility. First View, powered by HALO, gives parents and school districts live tracking of student transportation. First Charge is the company's electrification initiative, which includes containerised EV charging infrastructure and a broader transition to sustainable transport.
Work at First Student spans school bus operations and driving, vehicle maintenance and technician roles, district and location management, and software and data engineering behind the HALO platform. The company states an emphasis on safety, described as delivering the safest ride to school, and has been recognised in TIME's Best Inventions of 2025 and Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies, alongside a Contractor of the Year award from the National School Transportation Association.
