Schools in New Orleans start in just days, however, 85% of school bus operators are still waiting to be licensed to operate in the city.
Only 16% of the parish's 700 independently operated school buses are cleared by the city’s safety inspection and licensing, according to WWLTV.
In February of 2019, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration moved school bus permitting and licensing to the Ground Transportation Bureau.
The news station tracked the licensing and reports as of Tuesday, 695 school buses applied for licenses, but only 110 of those licenses have been approved. This means 85% of school bus operators are not yet permitted to operate in the city.
Of those waiting permits, 381 buses have their application under review according to WWLTV.






