Letter of Support for A.8440/S.1018: NYC Student School Bus Reform

5.28.26 at 2:00 PM- We, the undersigned parents, families, and organizations, urge the New York State Legislature to pass A.8440/S.1018 this legislative session. This legislation would allow Employee Protection Provisions (EPPs) to be included in a competitive rebid of New York City's school bus contracts, and it is an essential next step in reforming the yellow bus system that struggles to adequately serve the approximately 150,000 students who depend on it every day.

Parents and advocates did their part. Now it is the legislature's turn.

This Fall marked a critical point in the movement for better busing. NYC parents, students, community advocates, nonprofits, and committed elected officials mobilized to make one thing absolutely clear: rubber-stamping another long-term contract extension on already over-45-year-old school bus contracts was unacceptable and an affront to the thousands of families who submit complaints about busing year after year after year. 

Affected parents and advocates fought back against a five-year deal that would have locked students and families into a broken status quo until 2030, instead creating a pathway for the new Administration to create change over the next couple of years. NYC now has less than two and a half years to find a resolution that is not another extension. 

This legislation is the critical next step.

New York City cannot simply rebid these contracts on its own. Without state legislation allowing EPPs to be included in a new competitive bid process, any move toward modern contracts risks triggering a labor disruption that would strand tens of thousands of students, a majority of whom are students with disabilities, students in temporary housing, or students in foster care who rely on busing to get to school. 

Passing A.8440/S.1018 would finally allow a rebid on school bus contracts in a way that causes the least potential harm and disruption of service for students and their families. It also paves the way for critical reforms to the contracts, such as finally including busing for after-school, summer, and weekend programming, mandating air conditioning in all school buses, strengthening accountability for bus companies, and finally making a window for thoughtful community engagement and parent voices. 

The current system's failures are chronic and longstanding. 

For too many students— especially students with disabilities, students in temporary housing, and students in foster care — delays in providing bus service, long bus routes, buses that arrive at school late or require students to leave early, and inconsistent service are barriers to accessing education. At the start of the 2022-2023 school year, 18,000 busing complaints were logged, highlighting ongoing issues with school transportation. By the 2023-2024 school year, over 80,000 school bus delays were reported—a number that has continued to rise year after year. At the start of the 2025–2026 school year, families continued to report extreme delays, no-shows, and commutes of an hour or more each way, including one family whose child with a disability spent well over 3 hours on the bus each day to travel to a school 7 miles from home. 

Unreliable busing also takes a direct toll on working families. Parents who cannot count on transportation risk their jobs. Families already stretched thin are left scrambling. Better busing is an equity, economic, and fundamental quality-of-life issue for many of New York City's most vulnerable students and their families.

The current extension expiring in 2028 provides a window of opportunity. 

We cannot mark 50 years of contract extensions in 2028. We must instead mark 2028 as the beginning of a system that finally puts students first.

Because a rebid will take time, it is critical for the Legislature to act now.

Pass A.8440/S.1018 this session. Our students and families have waited long enough.

Signed,

ORGANIZATIONS

Advocates for Children of New York

Alliance for Quality Education

CASA-NYC

Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York

Children's Defense Fund - New York

The Circle Keepers

Citizens' Committee for Children of New York/ NYC Council District 9

Coalition For Asian American Children and Families

Cooke School and Institute

Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation

Good Shepherd Services

Homes for the Homeless

INCLUDEnyc

The Inter Agency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc.

Jenn Choi Advocates/ District 30

Lawyers for Children, Inc.

Lutheran Social Services of New York/ District 12

Mobilization for Justice, Inc.

NYC Coalition for Educational Justice

New York Appleseed

The New York Foundling

Parents to Improve School Transportation

Rising Ground, Inc.

Sanctuary for Families

Special Support Services

Win

INDIVIDUALS

Brett Nelson

Candice Martin

Diandra Verwayne

Elizabeth House

Erika Kendall

Holly Lane

Jackson Strike

Jan Atwell

Jordalyn Arias

Karen Kim

Lexi Orozco

Margaret Johnson

Nsowaa Stewart

Preeti Natarajan

Priya Bhatnagar

Ruby Miller

Tamara Farrell

Zack Nelson