In Kajaani, some 20 percent of primary school pupils need transport to get to their lessons each day. Last year that cost the city some 1.25 million euros, or 1,685 euros per pupil. The costs have risen in recent years, since a savings programme saw several schools closed down.
The city’s head of basic schooling, Martti Niemi, said that the rise in school transport costs has leveled off, as the city has employed more experts in transport. Increased efficiency and savings have a price, however, which is in some cases paid by children in the form of longer school days.
"Sure, it inevitably affects things somehow," says Niemi. "Walking journeys to the departure point or bus stop increase, and when you ensure that they are full, then the vehicles can end up taking a slightly longer route."
The law dictates that maximum journey times for first and second graders are two and a half hours per day, while older kids can travel for up to three hours to and from school.
"But of course it’s true that some kids’ journey times are quite long," says Niemi.
School transport costs increase with each passing year
The Association of Local and Regional Authorities says that school transport costs have risen by around five percent each year. The last available figures are from 2012 and show total costs at 172 million euros.
The association and municipalities have worked out that in some of Finland’s smaller municipalities, school transport takes up 5.4 percent of the total primary education budget.
Getting costs under control is a priority, and one common measure is to change bus routes to ensure the most efficient usage. Competitive tendering and a tougher negotiating stance are also important parts of the cost-cutting strategy, as are better integration with public transport, where possible.
That can be a problem in rural Finland, however, where a lack of transport companies means that tendering can be ineffective. In some places, the local bus firms are unable to transport children as their vehicles are too small or they do not have the legally-mandated alcohol lock.
