WAKE COUNTY, N.C. -- Less than two weeks away from the beginning of the new school year the Wake County Public School System says they have enough bus drivers for the first time in years.

• WCPSS has hired 740 full-time drivers to cover 740 routes.
• Wake County's growing population could be leading to the increase in bus driver applicants.
• Kids' routes may be different from last year's.

WCPSS has hired 740 full-time drivers to cover 740 routes. Snidemiller also says they've hired 70 full-time substitutes, and 35 trainees.

"Last year, we put forth a lot of recruiting efforts that were directed totally towards the bus drivers," WCPSS Director of Talent Acquisition Jason Kennedy said. "We had nine bus driver job fairs that were very, very successful, yielded us about 1,500 or so extra applicants."

Kennedy said Wake County's growing population could be leading to the increase in applicants, but it's not just a numbers game. More applicants means more quality bus drivers, which Walnut Creek Elementary School Principal Vonda Jenkins says is very important.

"You can tell a lot about how the day's going to go, when you look at those students get off the bus," Jenkins said. "And so, when the students get off the bus, and they're happy and they're smiling, that means the bus driver probably did an excellent job."

WCPSS Director of Transportation Bob Snidemiller said your child's bus route this year may be different from last year's. You can find route information here.

You can find information about the school system's bus tracking app here.