Parents of children with additional learning needs (ALN) in Swansea could be asked to take them to school in their Motability car rather than council-funded taxis, councillors have been told.
It is one of a number of suggestions the education department could consider to trim the home-to-school transport budget, which is expected to cost the council £8.3 million this financial year.
Education chiefs are concerned that costs are rising, despite the number of pupils who qualify for home-to-school transport and ALN transport remaining stable.
Around half the £8.3 million spend is on taxis for ALN pupils, and this share of the overall school transport bill is increasing the most.
There is no suggestion that the council would undermine its statutory requirements, or tell parents with Motability cars they must take their children to and from school.
"It is not a detailed proposal, and we are not going to propose something that was unlawful," said Swansea's head of education planning and resources, Brian Roles.
He was responding to concerns raised at a scrutiny panel meeting by a mother of a disabled child.
The mother said she understood that it cost a lot to take ALN pupils to and from school, but claimed that using this yardstick could discriminate against the children.
She added: "It also creates conflict between families and the authority.
"Do we really understand the law around this?"
Cath Swain, the council's integrated transport manager, said the authority was trying to create an ALN assessment criteria which was fair for everone.
She added: "One thing that does need to be asked is, does the family have a Motability car and, if they do, are they able to use it to provide transport for that child?"
Cllr Cyril Anderson said he used to transport ALN children to and from school when he was a taxi driver.
"I used to call at houses and, I'm trying to be respectful, there would be a disabled car in the driveway and the mother was in her dressing gown," he said.
Cllr Anderson, who is an ALN governor at Townhill Primary School and has direct experience in this area, wondered if the council could buy its own fleet of taxis for ALN school transport.
"It must be cheaper in the long run, and we'd have our own people and drivers," he said.
But the mother said she found it "astounding" that people might look at a Motability car and think it was a "gift" for families.
"I do have a disabled child," she said. "It's very, very difficult."
The council has just over 400 ALN transport contracts for nearly 700 pupils.
It also uses some of its own 16-seater minibuses for pupils with complex needs.
Ms Swain said buying a fleet of taxis "would be a big ask", that ALN school routes could become "very long and convoluted", and that consideration had to be given to how long children actually spent in the vehicles.
"We would have to buy a lot of vehicles and employ a lot of staff," she said.
Cllr Jennifer Raynor, cabinet member for education, said in some cases ALN pupils were happy to go to school with their parent.
"I'm not always convinced that that putting a child who is very vulnerable in a taxi with two strangers (the driver and passenger assistant) is the best way forward," she said.
Scrutiny panel member, Cllr Louise Gibbard, said: "If the parent is willing to do it, then fine.
"But I would not like to see lives limited because they are obliged to take their children to school."
The report before the panel said consideration could also be given to reviewing petrol allowances for parents of ALN pupils, plus independent travel training and regular reviews of transport provision.
The panel will write to Cllr Raynor with its views on the matter.
