[QUOTE=CannyDan]
You must be in the North. Oh, duh! Just saw Nutmeg. Sorry.
Yep, the owned versus contracted shows a holdover from the historic industrialized versus agrarian division between the north and the south. In general terms, states “up north” had private companies with sufficient capitalization and the necessary technical expertise to purchase school buses by the fleet-load, then hire them out to school districts.
Down here in the southland, only governments had that kind of money. Agricultural economies may be land rich, but they are typically cash poor. So here the school districts themselves typically own their own fleets.
Recently a growing number of southern districts have contracted for services, but I believe the majority still own and operate their own school bus fleets.
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That is a very interesting analysis. Thanks!