Councils are offering parents up to £5,000 a year to take their special educational needs children to school amid soaring transport costs.
Several local authorities have turned to "personal transport budgets" to offer a more cost-effective transport solution than funding taxis or buses.
The money made available to parents is dependent on the distance between their home and their child's school or college.
Kent Council Council offers £2,000 a year for a journey that is less than five miles and £5,000 for over 10 miles.
The local authority states on its website: "You can use the budget in any way you wish, to ensure your child attends school every day, is picked up and dropped off on time and in a fit state to learn.
"For example, it can help towards covering the costs of running a family car or arranging with another member of the family or friends to assist with childcare, enabling you to make the journey."
A freedom of information request submitted to the Reform UK-run council found the number of personal transport budgets given in the past five years had tripled from 654 in 2019-20 to 1,531 in 2024-25, The Sunday Times reports.
West Berkshire Council offers the same payments, which it says eligible parents will receive in their bank accounts in 12, four-weekly instalments between September and July.
Kent Council Council offers £2,000 a year for a journey that is less than five miles
| PAA report by the National Audit Office (NAO) in October last year found that almost half of local authorities reported annual overspends of 20 per cent or more on getting young people to school via bus, taxi or other transport methods.
Councils reported they went £51million over budget on home to school transport in 2015/16, and one in five reported they went over budget by 20 per cent or more. The total overspend increased to £415million in 2023/24.
Total spending on home to school transport rose by 70 per cent between 2015/16 and 2023/24, the NAO said to hit £2.3billion.
This rise is mostly due to increased spending on transport for young children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (Send), which increased 106 per cent over this period, compared with a nine per cent rise for transport for young people without Send.
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The Department for Education (DfE) estimates that spending on home to school transport could exceed £3billion by 2029/30
| PAThe Department for Education (DfE) estimates that spending on home to school transport could exceed £3billion by 2029/30 for children of compulsory school age and below if it continues on the current trajectory.
A DfE spokesman previously said: “This Government inherited a Send system on its knees, with thousands of families struggling to secure the right support.
“Work is already under way to make sure more children with Send can achieve and thrive at their local school alongside their peers – including investing £740million to create more specialist school places and increasing access to early support for speech and language needs."
West Berkshire council said personal transport budgets "give the family the freedom to provide transport assistance in whichever way works for them".
A Kent County Council spokeswoman said: “The rise in the number of personal transport budgets offered in Kent is ultimately down to parental choice."