Anyone with questions can call the transportation hot line at (718)482-3700. Parents and students of public and some private schools had to adjust to new school bus routes that took effect Monday, changing bus stops, drop-offs and pick up times.
Some parents say the changes will mean a longer day for their children and headaches for them.
But Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the bottom line is the city can’t afford to have school buses cover every street on every route. He says the city is trying to weed out buses that make rounds without any children on board.
“What we’re trying to do is have bus routes where the kids need them, and not to pay bus companies for routes where the kids don’t,” he said. “We only have a certain amount of money in this city, and if you want to make sure that your monies are well spent and that we help those we can, it requires looking at programs at seeing whether they are effective.”
But one Staten Island mother says her son now has to cross a busy street to get to his new bus stop.
“It’s very dangerous the intersection, as people know it, Richmond Avenue on Staten Island,” said Michelle Butler. “You have buses; you have trucks; you have fire engines; you have cop cars, eight lanes of traffic; two turning lanes. It’s a constant flow of traffic, and it’s very dangerous for children 11 through 13 to be crossing the street.”
Some bus drivers in Queens are skeptical that the measure will even end up saving money.
“I think it is going to be a big fuss. I think this all comes down to them spending $17 million, and they can’t justify it right now. I’m telling you right now,” said bus driver Anthony Coladonato. “The overtime involved is going to eat that $17 million savings they said they are going to make. It’s going to be far worse. I really think so; I think so.”
Some parents in the Bronx say the cost-cutting changes have left their children out in the cold.
“My child is five years old, so there is no way I am going to put her on a New York City bus or train by herself,” said parent Arlene Martin. “So now I am going to have to take her, which will also make me late for work, make some type of arrangement from work or get someone to pick her up as well. Working parents or any parent is going to have a very hard time doing this, especially mid-year.”
Things were no different in Brooklyn, where parents and bus drivers alike were trying to make the best of the situation, which meant allowing a little extra time for their morning routine.
The buses arrived at P.S. 196 in Bushwick, but Silvano Ortiz’s son Anthony was not on one of them.
“Nobody picked him up. We had to take a chance to get on transportation ourselves,” said Ortiz. “I’m not angry, but it is frustrating.”
“I [usually have 51 kids on the bus, but] today I had 22,” said bus driver Paul King. “Not really [confusion], but a lot of the parents don’t want to get up that early, so they would rather wait and take the child to school themselves.”
But the city wasn’t especially sympathetic to parents’ complaints Monday.
“We’ve reached out to parents, we’ve given extensive notification to try and get every parent that needs service to come in,” said Bloomberg.
The Department of Education says that only 116 out of some 6,000 lines were affected. An outside consulting group, Alvarez and Marsal, helped identify the lines to be cut or consolidated, as part of its $17 million no-bid contract from the DOE to identify cost-savings system wide. The DOE says the route changes will save $12 million a year.
Still, parents confused about whether their kids are on the list for bus service are left with little more than a special DOE hotline for information.
Education officials point out the first announcement about the changes was made last June, giving parents seven months to make alternate plans.
“The new bus routes implemented today reflect our eligible students’ actual use of busing. Rather than having to continue to pay for empty seats, the DOE will redirect millions of dollars in savings to schools and to support student learning,” a DOE statement released Monday read. “We recognize that the new routes caused difficulties for some families today, and we are working closely with schools and parents to resolve any legitimate concerns.”
No word on how long that could take.
