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Steve Gardner oversees the transportation of more than 26,000 Connecticut students who attend school in more than 30 different school districts.

But to speak with him, Gardner, the former director of technology and now the general manager at All-Star Transportation, doesn’t appear stressed in the least.

Even when his firm, which prior to the pandemic had just under 1,000 drivers, had been down as many as 170 drivers at one point, Gardner said the routes get covered and students get the transportation to and from school that they need.

In 2019, All-Star was acquired by Student Transportation of America, which transports 1.25 million students daily in North America, but officials said in media reports at the time that “little if any noticeable change will occur in All-Star’s operation.”

What helped Gardner navigate the complexities of each district for the past two decades continues to this day: Transfinder technology and support. Gardner said when he came on board, the company was using paper maps and pins to create routes. As an IT person by trade, Gardner said he was comfortable bringing in technology to All-Star to build routes and create efficiencies. Gardner said many of the districts have unique needs. He said some districts have two bell times (or start times), some districts have three bell times and some districts have four bell times.

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