Boston school bus vendor hit with nearly $70K fine for late April buses

Boston Public Schools' bus vendor was fined nearly $70,000 for significantly late or no-show buses in April, marking the second month in a row the private contractor had to fork over a penalty for stranding students.

The amount the longtime vendor, Transdev, had to pay was $69,500, a district spokeswoman told WBUR.

Boston Public Schools can fine Transdev $500 for each instance a bus is more than an hour late for pick-up or doesn't appear, according to the most recent contract struck in July 2023.

Since last September through mid-March, the district could have fined the bus vendor $1.5 million based on sheer number of "blown trips."

As WBUR reported earlier, despite the strain the chronically late school buses placed on families, the district didn't issue those fines for months. That is, until March, when it fined Transdev $105,000 for missed rides.

District officials cited snowstorms and staffing woes in the winter months for the delays. They said they're working with Transdev to consolidate routes and improve service.

District data for May is not yet available, but its April numbers show that 94% of morning buses, and nearly 89% of afternoon buses, arrived on time. The contract requires 95% of buses to be on time in the morning and afternoon.

“BPS will continue working closely with Transdev to build on this progress and further improve service for students and families,” a spokeswoman for Boston Public Schools said in a statement.

Roslindale parent Laura Gonzales McKenna said morning bus service for her kids has “overall improved” since March though they’re still seeing “a few hiccups" with afternoon service.

Her kids' bus has arrived about 20 minutes late for pickup at the Rafael Hernández School for the past three weeks.

“For them at the end of the day, it’s a hot building, they have to wait outside, they get a little cranky,” she said.

McKenna said she was "relieved" the district was issuing fines against the bus vendor.

“I think that’s the only leverage that we have and that needs to be utilized in order to motivate Transdev to improve their service,” she said.

The district has relied on Transdev, a multinational company, for bus transportation since 2013. Its federal safety record was the subject of a recent investigation by WBUR and ProPublica.

The reporting found at least 71 serious Boston school bus crashes involving Transdev over the last decade didn't appear under the company's name in a regulator database that tracks bus accidents nationwide.