The city is pushing for bus companies to agree to extend their contracts temporarily, but the companies are hoping for a five-year deal.
Education department officials are laying out plans to get students to school as a standoff over contracts between the city and some of the largest bus companies looms.
The city is promising free OMNY cards to all affected students. Some students with disabilities and homeless students would also be eligible for pre-paid rideshare services or reimbursement for transportation costs.
“While our administration continues to work toward a resolution to avoid any service interruptions, we are taking proactive steps to ensure every student can safely get to and from school without incident," Mayor Eric Adams said in a press release on Monday.
The city works with more than 40 private companies to serve some 150,000 students, many of whom have disabilities, are homeless or live in foster care. The contracts with some of the largest companies expire at the end of the month, unless they agree to extend them temporarily. The city said it is preparing for an impasse.
“Though we have not received any formal notice from busing companies, we are working diligently and proactively to ensure alternative transportation services are in place, should they be needed,” Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said in the press release.
Representatives for the companies have said the temporary extensions are unsustainable, and they will be forced to lay off workers and stop service.
“Indefinite emergency extensions are unfeasible and impractical for transportation companies,” said John "Sean" E. Crowley, an attorney representing a coalition of large bus companies, wrote in an affidavit to the state earlier this month. He said the bus companies need a longer-term contract to manage labor and real estate costs. The coalition and the drivers' unions have been pushing for a five-year contract extension.
He said the bus contractors have agreed to a series of upgrades, including enhancing GPS on buses, improving call centers and buying more electric vehicles in exchange for a five-year deal.
But many parents, advocates and some city officials have said that bus companies need to improve service to be granted longer contracts. Parents have complained for years about problems, including delays and no-show buses, broken air conditioning and unresponsive customer service.
They said they want new contracts to include tighter requirements. Many of them are calling for another temporary contract to carry service through the end of the year and into the start of the next mayoral administration.
“We have been hearing from the parents. They have told us they don’t want a five-year contract,” said Gregory Faulkner, chair of the Panel for Educational Policy, which is responsible for approving department contracts. “Somebody has to stand up for the parents. We have heard the parents and we are going to stand by them.”
He added that the “panel will not be held hostage” by the bus companies.
Not all the bus companies have contracts that expire at the end of the month, and some that do have already signed on to continue service through the end of the year, officials said.
