New analysis from the County Councils Network estimates that councils in England could be transporting more than 100,000 more young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to school by the end of the decade.
It also found the yearly costs of providing school transport for children with SEND could reach £3.4 billion by 2030/31 – £1.4 billion more than last year.
This would represent a five-fold increase on what councils were spending when reforms to the SEND system were introduced in 2015.
The Government has since set out how it plans to reform the SEND system.
Cllr Amanda Hopgood, Chair of the LGA’s Children, Young People and Families Committee, said: “Councils are consistently overspending on home-to-school transport, diverting funds from other priorities to manage the growing costs.
“To help tackle this, the SEND reforms have to deliver significant improvements to inclusion in mainstream settings, while still ensuring we have adequate provision in special schools for those who need it.
“It is simply not right that a child has to travel a long distance to school because there is no adequate provision near to their home.”