Research Team: Jon Valant, ​Brookings Institution​School choice reforms aim to pro­vide fam­i­lies with expand­ed oppor­tu­ni­ties and influ­ence in pub­lic edu­ca­tion. How­ev­er, stu­dents may not be able to choose cer­tain schools if they can­not rea­son­ably get there in the morn­ing and back home in the after­noon. Unsafe, unaf­ford­able, or long com­mutes can pre­vent schools from being tru­ly avail­able to fam­i­lies. This makes trans­porta­tion a vital part of how well school choice works. In this brown bag, we present ini­tial results of a study that exam­ines school bus routes in New Orleans. Specif­i­cal­ly, we address the ques­tions: How much time do stu­dents spend on school bus­es? How ear­ly do stu­dents have to get to bus stops in the morn­ing? How do tran­sit times vary for stu­dents trav­el­ing via school bus, car, and pub­lic tran­sit (city bus­es and street cars)? Note: This study was done in part­ner­ship with the Urban Institute.