The companies running New York City’s yellow school buses won a three-year contract extension Wednesday, averting service disruptions and a strike that could have upended the commutes for thousands of students.
The Panel for Education Policy, the group that approves major Department of Education contracts, voted to approve the extension after pushing back against a five-year deal, listening to critics of the bus system who have complained for years of major bus delays, no-show buses and poor service.
The buses transports roughly 150,000 students across 9,000 bus routes and costs the city about $2 billion a year. Roughly 43% of those who rely on yellow school buses are students with disabilities, according to Chalkbeat.
At the meeting that last over four hours and had dozens of speakers on the issue, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso urged the PEP to consider signing a one-year extension to force bus companies to take part in much-needed reform.
Reynoso, who has a nonverbal five-year-old autistic child, described his son's commute with a bus attendant who wore headphones. In another instance, the bus driver smoked a cigarette in front of the bus while Reynoso brought his son to the bus.
He said bus companies receive millions of dollars from the city for providing terrible service. Reynoso, who said he now walks his son to school because he doesn't trust the bus system, also urged city and state leaders to protect bus workers' wages and benefits, as well as launch a competitive RFP system for our bus contracts that prioritizes transparency, accountability, and service that is safe and reliable.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to this broken system any longer," he said in a statement after the PEP vote.
The three-year contracts cover the city’s 52 yellow bus companies, which employ about 17,500 employees, Chalbeat said.
