"You don’t have to be the best,” Reipold said. Reipold and others with STAM say there are several reasons bus companies, particularly smaller, family-owned businesses, kept folding in recent years.įor one, a state law intended to prevent back-channel deals requires school districts - and all public agencies - pick the lowest “responsible” bidder that meets their contractual needs. "There’s just not enough buses anymore anywhere across the country," said Reipold, adding that companies with a full roster of bus drivers are in high demand and cost a premium. But, she blames a shrinking industry and says most contractors aren’t inflating prices. Pam Reipold, president of the industry group School Transportation Association of Massachusetts (STAM), said she understands how this puts schools at a business disadvantage. Koocher added many districts in the state also worry that with limited competition for contracts, companies can raise their prices without pressure. And would be extraordinarily lucky and rare if they get more than one bidder." "Any district … would be lucky to get a single bid they liked. ![]() "You get more bids for than you do for transportation," said Glenn Koocher, the organization's executive director. Salem is far from alone in dealing with weak competition for school bus contracts, according to the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and other statewide education groups. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR) Contracts go to the lowest - sometimes sole - bidder Rows of school buses parked on Pleasant Street in Belmont, Mass. “The company is in constant communication with our school districts to ensure that students are transported safely to and from school each day," Tim Sheehan, the company’s senior vice president of operations, said in a statement. "You take what you can get."Ī spokeswoman with North Reading Transportation, which also serves Lawrence, Haverhill and Cambridge schools, said the company is working to recruit drivers with hiring bonuses and other incentives. "It’s not like we’re choosing from among four companies, and we’re choosing the one that’s the best fit for us," said Cornell. Its contract was finalized last summer, and the company was the sole bidder for the job. The district, Cornell said, feels stuck with the service it gets from this company and its owner Beacon Mobility, a national transit corporation. “But you can’t get someone on the phone, because they’re dealing with crises all over the place.” “You want to call the office to say, ‘hey can you check out the GPS to find out where this bus is?’ ” Cornell said. Cornell explained that she often tells parents she’ll call the bus company, North Reading Transportation, but she has a hard time getting through and suspects the company is understaffed. In Salem, Beth Anne Cornell, a school committee member, said she fields a lot of calls from parents angry about late buses - and even buses that don’t arrive at all. But Boston isn't the only school system that's seen delays. ![]() It added that it points districts with bus schedule woes to information about hiring more drivers. The state's education department says while it is monitoring service and complaints over chronic delays in Boston, it isn't observing problems in other districts to the same degree. A slim number are now moving to control busing themselves. ![]() ![]() School districts say they now face fewer choices, worries about steeper prices and more frustrated phone calls from families. Most Massachusetts school systems partner with outside vendors to bus kids, but over the last decade, competition has plummeted for these million-dollar contracts.Īccording to the state’s Registry of Motor Vehicles, 66 companies offer school bus services in Massachusetts, and a major school bus industry group in the state estimates that figure is down at least 20% since the 1980s. The issue has frustrated students, parents and school district leaders across Massachusetts, and many have pointed to a national shortage of bus drivers as a major cause.īut, public school leaders and bus industry officials say the driver shortage is just one factor wreaking havoc on bus schedules. Late and unpredictable school buses are a problem that’s received more attention in recent years. Facebook Email A school bus collects students on the first day of school in September 2021 in Dorchester.
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