Several BPS Bus Routes Missed Monday, Students Affected

Thirteen of the Boston Public School district’s 120 scheduled bus routes did not run on Monday morning despite assurance that all routes would be covered, BPS officials said in a statement.

The cause of the service disruption, officials said, was that the drivers’ union did not permit drivers to bid select routes to prepare in advance for routes that began Monday. BPS officials released the following statement on bostonpublicschools.org Monday:

“The school bus drivers’ union gave us assurances for several days, including early this morning, that they would provide full service to all students today. This is despite the fact that it did not permit drivers to bid (select routes) last week to prepare in advance for routes that began this morning. Based on the reality on the ground this morning, it has become clear that the Union has not delivered on its promise. Thirteen of about 120 scheduled routes did not run. This is unacceptable to us and is unacceptable to our students and families, who count on having a reliable ride to school.”

Nearly 3,000 students are assigned to ride yellow school buses this week in the BPS district; on Monday, two in-district charter schools, 13 Commonwealth charter schools and 11 special education programs were in operation, officials said. The first official day of school for all Boston Public School students is Thursday, Sept. 4, according to the BPS 2014-2015 calendar.

Officials added that they planned to dispatch supplemental service providers to cover some of the routes that were at risk Monday afternoon and that the MBTA would provide free service to students on Monday. Moreover, officials said that while the drivers’ union said all drivers would report to work on Monday, they did “not have the confidence this would be the case.”

“We know this is frustrating for families and schools,” officials stated. “We are as frustrated as anyone else with the ongoing uncertainty that has been created by our bus drivers union. We want to apologize to all the families that have been impacted by this situation. We will try to share as much information as we can.”

Parents or students with questions regarding bus routes should contact the Boston Transportation hotline at 617-635-9520 or visit the “Where’s My School Bus” app at schoolbus.bostonpublicschools.org.