Will AI replace school bus monitors?

Not on current evidence. Less than 30 minutes of a typical shift goes to tasks that AI or robots are doing today. The other 7h 47m (97%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 1.9% fewer of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

None of this job's tasks show regular AI use yet. That can mean the work is hands-on or in person, or simply that it rarely comes up in AI usage data.

For some tasks, yes. Robots have done 1 of this job's tasks in workplaces like this one, about 13m of a typical shift. For 8 physical tasks, no robot has shown it can do the work yet.

• Open and close school bus doors for students. (13m a shift; e.g. Rome Metro Line C Full Automation System (driverless metro with Automatic Platform Doors), in use)

7h 47m of a typical shift, or 97%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Monitor the conduct of students to maintain discipline and safety. (3h 22m a shift)
• Assist children with disabilities or children with psychological, emotional, or behavioral issues with boarding and exiting the school bus. (51m a shift)
• Buckle seatbelts or fasten wheelchair tie-down straps to secure passengers for transportation. (38m a shift)
• Direct students boarding and exiting the school bus. (38m a shift)
• Clean school bus interiors by picking up waste, wiping down windows, or vacuuming. (25m a shift)

On Indeed, job postings in the Security & Public Safety sector are at 119% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 4.4% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 13,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $35,100 a year ($16.88 an hour), 31% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $28,130 and $43,250 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects a decline of 1.9% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 75,000 jobs in 2035. Even so, it expects about 13,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 78,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.05% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 306th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 75,000 in 2035.

O*NET rates the job at level 2 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: high school diploma, some training. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 47m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Windows

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• School Bus Drivers (2h 56m touched, $48k median pay)
• Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity (5h 54m touched, $59k median pay)
• Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs (5h 16m touched, $37k median pay)
• Passenger Attendants (1h 5m touched, $38k median pay)
• Subway and Streetcar Operators (5h 40m touched, $86k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 1 with robots in real deployments, 17 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.