MAILBAG: When Will Someone Take Responsibility For The Busing Disaster?

It should go without saying that when someone signs a legally binding contract, he must uphold the terms of what he has committed to. No one is forced to take on commitments and sign to provide a service, and if one does, he legally must keep his word. If one is unable to handle the volume of a particular service, he should not bind himself to do it.

This is true in every industry; however, I am specifically referring to the business of providing school transportation.

I would like to ask several important questions to the Lakewood Board of Education and to the LSTA.

1. We all know that the beginning of the school year is a difficult time and some leeway must be given to allow the busses to get into schedule. We understand that it could take up to six weeks to perfect the runs. However, the bottom line is that the LSTA and the bus companies are being paid to provide a service, starting from Day One. Therefore, there must be some semblance of accountability, beginning on the first day of bussing.

My son waits outside at his designated bus stop every morning, and waits in school every afternoon, not knowing if his bus is coming or not. When we call the company, we are told, “Sorry, we don’t know if the bus is going to show up.”

What type of accountability is there? Do the bus companies report to the BOE and LSTA daily to let them know how many busses did their runs, how many were late, how many complaints they received, how many routes were missed, etc.? Do they report to anyone?

Do they get paid for the runs even when no bus shows up and I have to drive my son to school? My understanding is that if I drive my son to school, I legally have the right to be paid aid-in-lieu for that day. Do the bus companies keep that money, even though they provided no service? Do the companies have to provide proof that the service they are contracted to provide was provided before they are paid with taxpayer-funded money?

2. Part of the contract signed by the bus companies stipulates that someone must be in the office to answer phones for as long as the busses are out on the streets. Again, I understand that the beginning of the school year is the busiest time of year and the most calls from concerned parents come in at this time. However, this is not excuse for it being almost impossible to get someone on the phone.

What measures are the LSTA and the bus companies taking to make sure people can get through to a real person, as required by contract?

Parents need to know where their kids are. Someone recently told me that his five-year-old in primary was still not home over an-hour-and-a-half after school ended, and he was frantic with worry – but he couldn’t get anyone on the phone to ask where his son was. How is this acceptable?

3. According to the contract, if there is a mistake in a route that leads to children not being picked up, that must be immediately rectified. There should be no such thing as having to wait six weeks before being allowed to ask for a service that is already being paid for.

Furthermore, the companies are required by contract to have a percentage of busses and drivers on standby in case a driver or bus does not show up. When signing the contract, the company is required to present to the BOE copies of the drivers’ licenses and the plates of the busses that will be available and ready to jump in should the need arise.

Are these requirements being upheld? Do these standby drivers and busses exist?

4. About a year ago, there was a joint conversation held between representatives of the LSTA, the BOE, leaders of local schools and members of the community, in which it was mentioned that technology is available that bus companies can install in the busses to enable parents to follow the progress of the busses and see where their children are in real time. It was said that no Smartphone is needed to access this technology, as parents can use text messaging to receive this information.

Many parents wait and wait, and wait some more with their children at bus stops. They can stand there for an hour or more, unsure when, or even if, the bus will arrive. This disrupts their entire daily schedule, causes men to miss Shacharis, both parents to be late for work, and the child to come late to school. If they would at least know if and when the bus is coming, their entire day would be better.

This technology has been used by camps, so we know it is available. This past summer, many day camps gave parents a number to call or text to keep track of their child’s bus.

With GPS technology, there are many different ways to create such a system. Why are the bus companies not using this technology to make parents’ lives much easier?

5. The LSTA recently accepted to provide bussing for much of Jackson and Toms River and other towns, in addition to Lakewood.

What type of oversight is there to make sure the LSTA’s new commitments are not harming the service they provide for their previous commitments?

The public is entitled to know what form of oversight exists for this entity that is contracted to serve us. In addition to all of the government money involved, many of us are being charged for the bussing – and the rate goes up every year. We are entitled to some accountability, but we are only told to sit back and relax and wait for things to get better.

What we really want is answer.

Signed,

Anonymous