Fall 2025 Bus FAQ
Fall 2025 Busing Reminders and Answers to frequently asked questions:
[with some updates as of Aug 2026 for the upcoming school year]
The Office of Pupil Transportation makes the K-12 routes and is the only party with power to change them. Drivers and companies working those routes can only point out issues and try to get something flagged as a Problem Route. Pre-K is different but there is an EarlyChildhoodBusing team at OPT and the CPSE for each district or region, who have a role in addressing issues for riders at that age level.
Many drivers are doing their best with twisty routes that combine four or five schools.
Parents on route(s) going to the same school can work together to raise issues by phone or online, followed by emails to OPT to propose a better sequence for the pickups of children on the roster(s). Seek driver input if possible. See tinyurl.com/PISTAdvice
Route information is legally meant to be posted by OPT 15 days before school begins. This year we were told August 26, and it really happened August 28-29 (on NYCSA, for those with access).
Parents appreciate the school bus staff who reached out by phone.
If you weren’t called, it’s very possible that the OPT system doesn’t have your correct number to give the company, to give the driver and office staff. The only reliable way to correct this (except at NYCSBUS) is to go through your school as step 1, and follow up to be sure that other steps get done timely. See https://www.pistnyc.org/resources/fixing-contact-info
If your student has no route assigned despite having specialized transportation on a finalized IEP*, you and the school must inform its OPT liaison at the very least.https://infohub.nyced.org/in-our-schools/operations/transportation-resources-for-schools/transportation-liaisons
*School assessment team and other educators with access to electronic IEPs can verify whether the most recent IEP was in fact finalized — for those who don’t see the answer on NYCSA — and can read the details of the transportation page. Some of these staff are in the school building before Labor Day. Parent coordinators, school aides, and paras do not have access.
https://www.pistnyc.org/resources/no-show-bus has info on reimbursement and rideshare - but taking taxis is ‘more restrictive’ and chaotic for the student, and no family should have to scramble/ do unpaid labor for a service that our taxes already fund. Information in English and Spanish on the refund process is almost complete at https://www.pistnyc.org/resources/reimbursement-reembolso
You should have been given a bus emergency contact card but if not, you can contact pistnyc@gmail.com for a clear scan from a PIST mom, use tinyurl.com/buscontact, or write the same info on an envelope. Keep a copy for yourself and one for the school. We also have a fillable pdf created by another bus mom. PIST has flagged the need for new translations and online access to people in the Chancellor’s office, who have informed the Info Tech team what to do. Results are still pending.
No, the monitor/matron/attendant is not mandated to call or even text you when the bus is close or late. Many do so as a courtesy, especially when families are on time/early and respect their boundaries.
Remember, Bus route contracts and regulations were written in the days when the only method was: parent calls dispatch; dispatch pages bus team over radio for ETA. Add your voice to the demand for updates to Chancellor’s Regulation A-801 and A-802!!
Yes, there is still a driver shortage – and obstacles to getting a driver reinstated once they are suspended - even for minor infractions that don’t affect student safety. Just as there is only one OSH doctor reviewing medical transportation accommodation applications for students, there now are very few investigators assigned to due process for school bus employees. #ChooseYourBattles
There’s also a bus para shortage. If the IEP mandates a Student Transportation Paraprofessional, yet there is no bus para assigned, read https://www.pistnyc.org/resources/bus-paras and write to everyone named. We collect info each Fall on bus para vacancies and slow or incomplete transmittals for agency para services. This article about how students miss days due to shortage of school bus paras includes photos of PIST at events: https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026/07/15/nyc-school-paraprofessional-shortage-leaves-students-with-disabilities-stranded/
If your student needs to be dropped off at a different address in the PM than the AM, even if you did not apply for that by the priority deadline in mid July, see https://www.pistnyc.org/resources/change-of-pm-dropoff
If it has to do with shared custody, you need the Exceptions Form. https://supporthub.schools.nyc/family-topics/Transportation/issues/I%20need%20to%20request%20an%20exception%20to%20transportation%20eligibility
Either way the plan needs to be very consistent in order to be approved by OPT - and to work out safely in real life.
Families at schools which do not automatically have NYCSA access to see route info can arrange it for their families, according to OPT testimony at City Council in Sept 2024.
Advice to school staff: Look up the district number where the school is located. See https://schoolsearch.schools.nyc/for the map. Once there, at top right you can switch between Standard/Neighborhoods/Districts to figure this out.
Then look up the OPT liaison at https://infohub.nyced.org/in-our-schools/operations/transportation-resources-for-schools/transportation-liaisons (names may change from year to year). Email that person plus jbenson3@schools.nyc.gov (OPT Deputy Senior Executive Director) and ccse@schools.nyc.gov (the Citywide Council on Special Education) for support.
Students who ride the yellow bus for any reason are still excluded from “OMNY for all” at this time. PIST and other student/parent/community organizations oppose this form of discrimination. For ways to help, visit https://transalt.org/citywide-campaigns/expand-student-omny
When there is a public school holiday that is not a federal holiday, the other kinds of schools may still have busing service from the City, provided that the school updates a calendar with OPT. Same for half days. Always talk to the school, the bus team, and the bus company to make sure you all have the same expectation.
Every year in late September, the UN general assembly causes Manhattan traffic to be very delayed by heads of state with police escorts and by protests. Yellow bus routes will be affected, unless they don’t have to cross Manhattan.
About GPS
The Via GPS app is frequently out of order for parents. If the view from your app says “Driver is offline”, it may be buffering or experiencing a glitch; it may be that driver has not received proper log in credentials, they forgot, you have a substitute driver, etc. You won't know unless you ask. Worst case, in theory, there is something their boss doesn’t want you to see, such as routes that were merged without OPT permission.
Yes, School bus drivers are mandated to log in to Via at the start of the morning run, then log out for privacy during the midday hours, then log in again at the start of the afternoon run, then log out for the night. They and the company get heavy fines otherwise.
It’s a $51M investment, whose staff are way over in the Red Sea region. We are certain this could be done better closer to home, for less money and controversy! The company as a whole has a bad reputation with community-based transit activists.
Help us advocate for change as these contracts are being brought up again relatively soon. Shockingly, OPT has mentioned leaning towards rewarding Via with other contracts to create routes too! Go here https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1230079&GUID=FC4D7817-BD5A-4527-9AB9-4DC16D2E3D91, click “Video” and listen at minutes 30 to 40.
Meanwhile, see https://www.pistnyc.org/resources/better-trackers and try to get to know other families on the same route so you can communicate in real time.