DRIVING THE INDUSTRY SINCE 1991
“They (Atlantic Express) are trying to keep this transition as
smooth as possible, and we are holding them to that.” —Paul Bailey, Director of Transportation
Long Beach (Calif.) Unified School District
OTHER CONTRACT SCENARIOS Since STA has served L.A. Unified
for the past four years, service disrup- tions there are expected to be non- existent or minimal as well. Donald Wilkes, transportation director at the sprawling urban district, said Atlantic Express operated about 10 percent of its daily routes, servicing students with special needs. “Teir transportation is very cus-
tomized — even door to door — so any inability to cover these routes would be keenly felt,” he said. In December, Wilkes communicat- ed withTim Ammon, a consultant and owner of Management Partnership Services, regarding his work with the School District of Philadelphia to create a contingency plan to cover Atlantic’s roughly 300 routes. “As we understand it, there is enough money available for Atlantic to continue operating through the middle of January … (and) we have been told that the deals to keep the routes in place will be finalized by then,” Ammon told STN in Decem- ber. “To date, we have had no disrup- tion of service for the folks who are employed there. Tey have remained professional and are as concerned about the volatility as we are.” He noted the district has made
inquiries with other vendors about the availability of temporary and emergency assets in case there is no court-approved deal by mid-January. While Ammon initially thought
the Philadelphia contract would be included in any acquisitions involv- ing Atlantic’s California business, he learned last month that it was not. Linda Morgan, Philadelphia’s
transportation director, confirmed that their assets were not part of SWD’s management agreement with Atlantic. “It remains an issue that both the (Philadelphia) district and Atlantic are
working on, and everybody’s hoping for a relatively smooth resolution like there has been in other locations,” Ammon said. “Folks there have a contingency plan in place in hopes of avoiding disruption.” School districts in New Jersey and
Massachusetts have avoided service disruptions, according to news reports. In Oceanside, N.J., the newly hired Logan Bus Company took over transportation as soon as students returned from winter recess. Te LI Herald reported that in December the New York bankruptcy court awarded the busing contracts for three other districts as well — Bellmore-Merrick, East Meadow and Uniondale. Oceanside Superintendent Phyllis
Harrington told parents that Logan has assured them it will do everything possible to keep on the same bus driv- ers and other support personnel while also maintaining the same routes. In Massachusetts, Hudson school officials also reported a smooth transi- tion to a new provider, North Reading Transportation. Hudson Superinten- dent Kevin Lyons said there have been very few issues so far with the new contractor. “It’s looking rather seamless,” Lyons told the Hudson Sun.
BIG BUSING ISSUES IN THE BIG APPLE By all accounts, the New York
situation is unusually complicated. It was widely reported that the bus contractor was driven out of business after a union no-vote in New York City, which boasts the largest school district in the nation, but Hurricane Sandy may also have played a role in the company’s bankruptcy. Long Beach Unified’s Bailey noted
that Atlantic Express lost 400 buses in the devastating 2012 hurricane. “After that, they had gaps they
couldn’t get out from under,” he said. “Also, New York changed their bidding process. Te rest of the company was not insolvent at all, not the operations in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, etc.” When the New York City Depart- ment of Education (DOE) put new school bus contracts minus employee protection provisions out to bid last year, the goal was to rein in escalating transportation costs. According to the DOE, the new busing contracts would translate into cost savings of $100 million in the first year alone and $310 million in all. Without the bidding process, there was no competition, said Marge Feinberg, spokeswoman for the DOE’s Office of Pupil Transportation. She also confirmed that all of Atlantic’s former routes were reassigned to other bus companies. At the end of December, the Amal- gamated Transit Union Local 1181 released a report that claims there is no evidence behind the hundreds of millions in savings projected by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Te report contends that the
mayor’s proposals do not take into account losses in bus service and the quality of skilled, experienced workers or the costs associated with training and certifying replacements. Te report also said the new contracts could shift costs exceeding $370 million tied to increased unemployment benefits, Medicaid claims, worker’s compensa- tion and food stamps. Yet Feinberg said the city’s Indepen- dent Budget Office has validated the budget with these savings. “Contrary to the erroneous con-
clusions made in this commissioned report, by bidding out work we have been able to put hundreds of millions of dollars back into classrooms,” she added.
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