Understanding the manifestations and impacts of ableism in school transportation: a scoping review

Abstract

School transportation services are often essential to disabled children's education access. The organisation of school bussing affects their experiences of inclusion and exclusion in educational settings. Disability is often overlooked in active school travel and children's independent mobility research, underscoring the need to examine ableism in school transportation services. This scoping review considers manifestations of ableism in school transportation studies. Findings highlight ableist school transportation elements that families of disabled students experience, such as inadequate educational programming, limited transportation availability, poor transportation service quality and scheduling, and inaccessible schoolyard designs. These issues contribute to inequitable psychological, financial, and administrative burdens for families of disabled students. Scholars are encouraged to explicitly identify and interrogate ableism in future research by employing critical theoretical frameworks that help to recognise and challenge the normalised exclusions it causes in school transportation. Further research is needed to evaluate policies and processes that schools, school boards, and student transportation service providers use to ensure accessible transportation for disabled students.