You get what you pay for

[Buzz]

http://www.ny1.com/content/news/201296/ny1-exclusive--queens-mother-says-school-bus-driver-left-kids-at-bus-stop-after-being-unable-to-find-their-school

[Goose623]

And of course no comment from bus company no comment from DOE.. If that was pioneer, the driver would be on the front page of advance and SI live..

[Goose623]

Cold, School Bus Troubles Lead to Drop in School Attendance Rates
01/07/2014 11:30 PM
By: Lindsey Christ
It hasn't been easy to get students to school so far this year, as between Mother Nature and problems with school buses, attendance rates have dropped along with the temperature. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report.

When city schools reopened from winter vacation last Thursday, the focus was on the change at the top, but for 40,000 students, something much closer to home also changed: their school bus.

"Our bus driver's company got bankrupt," said student Darius Mason.

It wasn't just any company. It was Atlantic Express, the largest school bus company in the city. They stopped operating on the last day of 2013.

The DOE scrambled to get all 1,600 routes covered by other companies, but many students still had a rough start to the new year.

Gary Moskowitz's daughter has a severe disability and is unable to walk or talk. The All American bus company picked up her route, but Tuesday, the bus broke down.

"It took about three hours later to get the other bus," Moskowitz said.

It was 4 degrees by the time a replacement arrived, but, according to Moskowitz, "When I went on the bus, I was like 'Oh my God, there's no heat on the bus.'"

In fact, the DOE said that a bus in Manhattan also had no heat, but promised that both would be fixed by Wednesday.

Then, there's 7-year-old Darius. He hasn't gotten back on a bus since Thursday, when he had a new driver from Allied Transit Corp.

"He didn't know the way to get to our school," Darius said. "We kept telling him the number, the way to go, all of that."

He says the driver unloaded the kids back where they'd been picked up, even though all the parents had left.

"This is outrageous, 'cause he just left us on the street, and I don't know why he would do that 'cause we are just little kids," Darius said. "And there are pre-k there, like from pre-k to kindergarten to first grade to second grade, and he left us on the street. But you can't do that to little kids."

The company suspended the driver while the DOE investigates.

Allied Transit picked up 113 new routes from Atlantic. Last year, with just 34 routes, Allied had the worst safety record of any bus company in the city, according to data obtained by DNAinfo.

On Thursday, the DOE transportation office fielded nearly 4,200 calls, and on Monday, they fielded another 4,000.

The weather has also made school attendance difficult so far in 2014. On Friday, schools closed for snow, and on Tuesday, with record-low temperatures, attendance was just 72.6 percent.

[Goose623]

Worst safety record in city.. Bloomberg I guess safety doesn't matter.

[Goose623]

Also they are rewarded over 100 runs for there worst safety record.. This is a joke.. When is someone going to step in and fix this mess.

[gigi11744]

not only did they get the work ,and that they would honor the 1181 contract...guess what  they said on first day back ,nope  you will get 14.00 dollars an hour and no med...hello so the drivers that where suppose to follow work are on unemployment  and we get scabs  ..unbelievable

[Buzz]

Found this ad online for Happy Child ... no mention of pay scale ... http://www.postjobfree.com/job/agfli3/social-security-attendant-cdl-bus-staten-island-ny?ipjf=SimplyHired&utm_source=SimplyHired&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=SimplyHired

[Buzz]

The other day I saw a school "bus" on Bloomingdale (might have been Pre-K) ... a Ford Connect, like this taxi ...

I don't imagine there are too many kids on the run. 

(Believe it said "Phillips Bus Company")