FirstAlt, powered by First Student, provides safe and reliable transportation options for students with special needs, students experiencing homelessness, out-of-district students, and hard-to-serve trips. By utilizing a fleet of small capacity vehicles — including sedans, SUVs, minivans, and wheelchair vans — sourced from existing local transportation companies, FirstAlt offers unparalleled flexibility. This approach allows school districts to tailor their transportation programs to meet specific needs, reduce costs, and free up resources for higher-capacity trips.
Public
Sector
Sector
K-12 Education
Higher Education
State & Local Government
FirstAlt enhances First Student’s comprehensive transportation offerings by meeting the diverse needs of districts with specialized vehicles for hard-to-serve students. For districts facing the challenge of safely transporting their most vulnerable students, FirstAlt offers an alternative to traditional ride-share vehicles or taxis, available on a cooperative contract through OMNIA Partners.
Industry-Leading Standards
We know that the safety of students is the number one priority. FirstAlt confirms that all transportation providers and their drivers have met all FirstAlt, state, local and district requirements before they can service trips.
- Custom training program developed by First Student in conjunction with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center focusing specifically on how to work with and interact with students with special needs
- Pre-service, random, post-accident and reasonable suspicion drug testing program. Rideshare companies do not typically require these same drug and alcohol testing standards
Initial and continuous background and MVR checks
Training
Drivers will be equipped with tools for understanding the functions of behavior and the Rage Cycle which will help drivers relate to the students and to de-escalate issues as they arise. In addition, parents and caregivers will be asked to fill out an “All About Me” form for their student to provide the drivers a better understanding of the students likes, dislikes and items needed to make the student comfortable. Once a driver is fully vetted and has passed all training requirements, they are prepared to handle everything — from behavioral challenges to installing and using special needs equipment.
How Will We Identify the Vehicle and Driver?
FirstAlt also offers an industry first digital driver ID. This allows parents and staff to see real-time verification of the driver’s eligibility to service their student’s trips. The digital driver ID provides up to the minute validation that the driver has been fully vetted and assigned to the specific student and trip.
As requested, parents, caretakers and staff can ask to view this digital ID before loading their students. In addition, all contracted drivers and vehicles will have easy to identify badges and vehicle stickers that allow staff and parents to quickly identify the vehicle and driver. All vehicles will have a FirstAlt sticker on the passenger side windshield and drivers will have badges that will be easy to spot from a distance for staff and parents.
Contact Information
Gregg Prettyman
VP, FirstAlt | First Student, Inc.
Gregg.Prettyman@firstgroup.com
(760) 405-7171