Boston school officials fined bus vendor $105K last month for late or missed trips

For the first time, Boston school officials slapped a fine — $105,000 — against its longtime bus vendor, Transdev, for notably late or missed trips that have left many families in the lurch this school year.

Boston Public Schools transportation director Dan Rosengard revealed the amount of this fine Thursday at a City Council hearing focused on the district’s new fiscal year budget.

Imposing a fine for poor performance is “one tool, not the only tool, and not always the best tool” to improve bus service, Rosengard said to the councilors. “But, in this specific situation, we feel that it was appropriate.”

The penalty for the month of March was deducted from the company’s monthly management fee of $1.6 million, Rosengard added.

WBUR first reported that BPS could have fined Transdev over $1 million for more than 3,000 blown trips from the beginning of the school year through mid-March — but hadn’t issued any penalty.

The district’s contract allows it to fine Transdev $500 for each instance of a “blown trip” — that is, when the bus is more than an hour late for pickup or does not show up at all because no driver or vehicle is available.

Bus delays can rupture a child’s school routine, leading to missed classroom time, field trips, school breakfast or special education instruction, multiple parents testified last month at an emergency hearing about late buses.

A district spokeswoman said 93% of the morning buses were on time in March and 88% in the afternoon. The district’s current contract with Transdev, which started in July 2023, requires at least 95% on-time bus performance.

Officials previously told WBUR that imposing the penalties would not be “effective” to improve bus performance.

After WBUR’s reporting and questioning from councilors, the district shifted gears. Rosengard said Thursday that since the March fine, the district has seen on-time performance “dramatically improved.”

“We're going to continue to make sure we're using the right tool for each moment to keep driving improvements for kids,” he said.

The Boston City Council said it plans to hold a follow-up hearing on bus transportation before the school year ends in late June.