First Student (United States)

First Student is a division of FirstGroup providing student transport in the United States. According to the company's website, it is the largest provider of school bus services in the United States. The company operates in 39 US states.[1][2]

First Student
ParentFirstGroup
Founded1999
(through acquisition of school bus business of Ryder)
HeadquartersCincinnati, Ohio
Service areaUnited States
Service typeSchool bus, charter service
Fleet44,000
Websitewww.firststudentinc.com

With a workforce of 50,500 employees and a fleet of 44,000 vehicles, First Student transports approximately 5 million students daily.[1] The company bus fleet drives over 550 million miles every year.[1] First student was sold to EQT Infrastructure on 21 July 2021.[3]

History

Ryder Public Transportation acquisition

In 1999 Ryder sold its school bus division to FirstGroup for $940 million, in order to focus on its truck leasing and rental business.[4]

Laidlaw acquisition

By 2007 FirstGroup had built the First Student network into one of the largest school bus contractors in the United States, and in the same year, the company acquired Laidlaw for $3.4 billion, taking over its school transportation operations as well.[5]

FirstGroup breakup

FirstGroup, the parent company of First Student, announced that it would consider a sale of its North American school bus and transit divisions in December 2019. The North American division was valued at $3.5 billion at the time of the announcement.[6] In April 2021, FirstGroup agreed terms were to sell the business to EQT Partners. Subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, the deal is scheduled to close in the second half of 2021.[7]

Safety features

In 2010, First Student installed Zonar on all 60,000 of its school buses. These features include the EVIR Inspection System for verified pre-trip, post-trip and child-check inspections; the V2J Vehicle Diagnostic Device for tracking and managing of assets and real-time transmission of vehicle subsystem data; and Ground Traffic Control, a Web-based data and fleet management application.[8]

See also

References
  1. "About First Student". First Student, Inc. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  2. "First Student factsheet" (PDF). FirstGroup. Summer 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2021.
  3. "Sale of First Student and First Transit". www.firstgroupplc.com. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  4. "COMPANY NEWS; RYDER IN DEAL TO SELL BUS UNIT FOR $940 MILLION". New York Times. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  5. "FirstGroup closes Laidlaw acquisition". schoolbusfleet. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  6. "FirstGroup Puts U.S. School Bus, Shuttle Units Up for Sale". Bloomberg. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  7. FirstGroup to focus operations on the UK as First Student and First Transit sold Coach & Bus Week April 23, 2021
  8. "First Student to outfit 60,000-vehicle fleet with Zonar". schoolbusfleet. Retrieved 3 October 2019.

Media related to First Student buses in the United States at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.