Fall 2025 Bus FAQ
Fall 2025 Busing Reminders and Answers to frequently asked questions:
The Office of Pupil Transportation makes the routes and is the only party with power to change them. Bus teams and companies can only point out issues.
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 possible that the OPT system doesn’t have your correct number. 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 OPT. https://infohub.nyced.org/in-our-schools/operations/transportation-resources-for-schools/transportation-liaisons
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.
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.
No, the 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.
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. Our Friday meeting agenda includes bus para vacancies and slow or incomplete transmittals for agency para services.
If your student needs to be dropped off at a different address in the PM than the AM, and 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.
Schools which do not have automatically NYCSA access to see routes 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 (we see new names compared to last year). Email that person plus jbenson3@schools.nyc.gov (OPT Deputy Senior Executive Director) ccse@schools.nyc.gov (the Citywide Council on Special Education).
Students who ride the yellow bus for any reason are still excluded from “OMNY for all” at this time. PIST and other parent/community organizations oppose this form of discrimination. Stay tuned for ways to help.
About GPS
The Via GPS app was out of order for parents on the first day and a half of public school. 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, 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 $36M investment, whose server is 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. 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.