The city is facing a transportation crisis as bus driver shortages, unassigned routes, and aging contracts collide, leaving thousands of students without buses at the start of the school year and causing ongoing delays.

Experts say the system is hampered by contracts dating back to 1979 and are pushing for modernization, including state legislation to allow competitive bidding while protecting essential worker rights.

Key stakeholders, including Advocates for Children of New York, Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia, State Sen. Robert Jackson, Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, and Mayor Mamdani, are actively discussing reforms and ongoing efforts to address the crisis.

Parents and lawmakers are urging Albany to pass legislation that would enable the city to overhaul bus services for students with disabilities.

Despite ongoing talks, families report persistent problems such as late arrivals, insufficient accommodations, language barriers in complaints, and doubts about whether concerns are heard.

Advocates report that at the start of the current year more than 2,000 students with disabilities lacked bus service, although some progress has since been made.

Current bus contracts expire in June 2028, providing a potential timeline for overhaul and rebidding.

Specific cases show the consequences: long travel times, late buses, and even a student having an accident on a bus without a restroom, highlighting safety concerns for students with disabilities.

The push focuses on modernizing a system serving about 150,000 students via more than 50 contracted companies that have not been rebid since 1979.

Advocates contend that existing contracts contribute to chronic failures like late or missing pickups and excessively long travel times for students with disabilities.

City Council Member Lincoln Restler has criticized the contracts as corrupt and incompetent and is calling for protections to keep union drivers employed under new contracts to avoid strikes.

The city’s bus network serves roughly 150,000 students daily across 9,000 routes, with about 68,000 students with disabilities, underscoring the scale and urgency of the crisis.