A coalition of about 50 parents, city officials, and advocates chanted on New York City’s City Hall steps on the afternoon of September 22nd, demanding yellow public school bus reform.
The coalition pointed to the failure of outdated contracts, bus companies’ lack of self-reporting issues, and bus driver shortages, with concern for students with disabilities being affected the most.
“What do we want? Better busing! When do we want it? Now!” was chanted repeatedly by ralliers, and signs read “on time, every time” and “30-minute distances, two-hour bus ride!”
The New York City public school bus system is the largest in the nation and transports over 150,000 students over 9,000 bus routes daily. The yellow school bus system is coordinated between the Department of Education and 52 different bus companies to bring students to school every day, on time and safely, while the larger MTA white public buses serve New York City residents with fixed city routes.
The yellow bus system is also responsible for transporting over 66,000 students in foster care, with disabilities, or needing additional support. With approximately 43 percent of bused students having at least one disability, these are the groups affected the most by delays and no-shows. According to advocates, the average bus delay in 2025 is 45 minutes, having increased 51 percent since 2023.
One parent, Jessica, has a son who traveled three hours to school by bus, despite only living a mile and a half from school. Jessica said she was forced into advocacy, outcrying that for the parents of her child’s 41-student class, “more than three quarters of their children do not have reliable busing on a daily basis.” There have been issues since the start of the school year, as “one of our drivers did not show up here two weeks in,” she said at the rally.
Nationwide bus driver shortages reveal a larger problem. Forced chronic absenteeism is at a record high in the United States post-COVID, and data from HopSkipDrive of a survey from over 400 school leaders around the nation reveal that 91 percent say bus driver shortages have affected children’s routines.
Experts say chronic absenteeism is classified as a student missing more than 10 percent of school days (18 days), and Lucas Healy, a Senior graduating this June, unwillingly fits this category, having missed 56 days of school in the third grade.
“I need to know before I graduate … that we are opening these bus contracts for new vendors,” he said at the rally. “I need to know the EPP (Employee Protection Provisions) will be a place to create sustainable jobs to retain reliable staffing.”
Many more parents vehemently spoke out against the injustice of public school bus failures at the rally, particularly those with disadvantaged children. A social worker, Carmen Sanchez, spoke about her son, Jacob, missing school and being unsupervised.
“I would pray every night, ‘God, let him get the good bus today, or the bus show up today.’ I would call and they would say ‘sorry,’ or they would never pick up the phone,” she said.
Sanchez said she wanted to help her son, who is on the autism spectrum, as much as possible, but was often unable to take off work, resulting in her son missing school.
For families like Sanchez’s, the impact extends beyond missed school days as the outdated contracts prevent buses from operating past 4 p.m., “meaning that students with disabilities are also often excluded from afterschool programs,” said Molly Senack, Education and Employment Community Organizer for the Center for Independence of the Disabled (CIDNY).
The referenced contract laws between the DOE and bus companies were made 45 years ago, which advocates and city officials said hinder the performance of public school buses. However, others say contract reform is difficult.
“The education department has said that the contract cannot be modified without getting rid of protections for union bus drivers,” wrote Doug Williams of CBS News, furthering the driver shortage.
Without competition or incentives, bus companies also have little reason to self-report problems.
The bus companies have been running on monthly emergency contract agreements since their contracts expired in June. They threatened to discontinue service on Nov. 1, but an agreement was made, and bus service will continue, although there will be uncertainty after the month.
Understaffing is another issue the Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) is being scrutinized for. The OPT currently employs 17,500 employees over 52 bus companies, but is still short 300 bus drivers, which has limited the number of back-up drivers and hindered adding new bus routes.
NYCS Bus is New York City’s first nonprofit school bus company. Their mission is to combat some of these problems by providing accountability and transparency through GPS tracking and the electrification of school buses. In regard to underreporting claims from bus companies, “we do our own internal tracking,” said Holly Orr, CFO, and Hannah Stauss, Data Scientist. “I think we’re the only company that’s actually tracking on time arrivals every day, so we have a little bit of accountability.” They admit, however, that common staff shortages hinder their ability to accurately perform their jobs.
The DOE is committed to making changes as well, ensuring accountability and long-term reform strategies for families. “That’s why we introduced modern GPS tracking for buses, expanded communication tools to families, and made route planning improvements to better meet students’ needs,” wrote DOE Associate Press Secretary Dominique Ellison.
The DOE could not be reached for comment about the underreported problems from bus companies and specifics about passing legislation for contract reform.
Advocates and city officials are still waiting for these contract updates and promised changes, as another school year brings more of the same problems. “To get the most out of the classroom, students are depending on us to get them there,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a reminder of who is affected and relies on these policy procedures the most.
