First Student Reaches Seven Million Electric Miles Driven

First Student, the North American leader in K-12 school transportation, has just wrapped its most impactful school year ever—redefining what it means to deliver safe, reliable, and innovative student transit. With 5.5 million students transported daily across 44 U.S. states and 8 Canadian provinces, the company marked major milestones. The company announced on June 10, 2025 that it covered over 525 million miles during the 2024-2025 school year, pushing the boundaries of operational scale and student safety. Seven million of those miles were completed by its fully electric school bus fleet.

At the heart of this transformation is HALO™, First Student’s proprietary technology platform. HALO integrates every facet of school transportation—from routing and navigation to maintenance and EV charging—into one smart ecosystem. The platform’s sweeping impact earned First Student a coveted spot on Fast Company’s 2025 list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.

“This school year, we continued to live out our values by setting the highest standards for student transportation,” said First Student CEO and President John Kenning. “With more than one billion student rides completed and the launch of HALO, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to our values of safety, innovation and student service. These principles guide everything we do as we deliver unmatched care and the safest possible ride to school for every student we serve.”

First Student’s innovation extended beyond traditional transportation. First Alt, its alternative mobility program for students with special needs, experiencing homelessness, or on hard-to-serve routes, grew its customer base by 105% and trip count by 94% year-over-year. That success earned the company the 2024 Forrester Technology Strategy Impact Award.

In another milestone, the First Serves program—which supports students with special needs through behavioral training and real-time monitoring—reduced disruptive incidents by 27%. The initiative received the T-Mobile Innovation in Customer Experience Award for improving equity and inclusion in school transit.

Fleet electrification remained a top priority. Through its First Charge solution, a modular, above-ground EV charging system, the company is accelerating the switch from diesel to electric without the burden of digging or permanent infrastructure. First Charge has already supported over seven million electric miles driven, placing First Student firmly on track to meet its goal of converting 30,000 buses to electric by 2035. The platform has earned top honors, including the Edison Award and Green Product of the Year.

First Student also rolled out expanded Fleet Management and Maintenance Services under its First Services brand, giving school districts access to 1,250 ASE-certified technicians and over 100 Blue Seal Certified shops. Its Fleet-as-a-Service model allows schools to upgrade their fleets with minimal capital outlay, reinforcing the company’s mission to let educators focus on students—not buses.

Lynkwell, the Best Turnkey Solution for Electric School Bus Charging

As districts nationwide accelerate the shift to electric fleets, Lynkwell has emerged as the standout leader by offering end‑to‑end charging solutions tailored specifically for electric school buses, while serving a wide variety of other EV charging segments, such as hospitality.

Lynkwell is the leading full-service EV charging provider in the U.S. offering integrated solutions from planning and funding to installation and long-term management, all backed by a U.S.-based support team with 99 % hardware uptime and 98 % connectivity uptime.

All Lynkwell hardware and services are U.S.-based and Build America, Buy America compliant, making it easier for school districts to tap into funding and grants. Check the Lynkwell rebate finder.

With its unique combination of comprehensive infrastructure, advanced hardware, and fleet‑specific software, Lynkwell’s solutions are paving the way for reliable, scalable, and cost-effective deployment of zero-emission transportation in schools across North America.

Learn more about how Lynkwell is powering the future of electric school transportation—and how your district can take the next step toward clean, efficient, and sustainable fleet electrification. Contact the friendly team today, highly recommended by EVinfo.net.