Education
District officials said they “recognize that further progress is needed” when it comes to getting Boston’s students to school on time.
As Boston Public Schools kicked off the new school year Thursday, students who relied on the bus had a two-in-three chance of making it to class on time — the district’s highest first-day rate on record.
In addition to its 66% on-time performance rate, Boston saw 85% of its school buses arriving within 15 minutes of the morning bell and 94% arriving within 30 minutes, according to BPS transportation officials.
“This is a strong foundation to continue building on and we look forward to continued improvement in the days and weeks ahead,” officials said in a statement.
More than 20,000 students boarded buses for Boston’s first day of school.
Thursday’s stats mark a sizable gain over last year, when the city posted a meager on-time rate of just 34% amid the rollout of a new bus-tracking app. The district saw some improvement following its lackluster start last year, making gains in its on-time performance throughout the school year and even boasting a 94% average in March and June — the strongest monthly results since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This notable improvement reflects our team’s dedicated efforts to address operational challenges through reforms and system-wide improvements implemented over the past several years, including stronger contracts, improved staffing, and modernized technology across our system,” BPS transportation officials explained.
Before Thursday, the district’s highest on-time rate for the first day of school was 61%, achieved in the fall of 2023. Still, district officials said they “recognize that further progress is needed.”
“BPS remains committed to building on this momentum and will continue working closely with Transdev, our bus drivers and bus monitors, and our school communities to ensure every student arrives safely and on time to class and home every day,” transportation officials said.
Improving bus arrival times has been a perennial challenge for Boston’s schools; in 2022, the district was ordered to achieve an on-time rate of 95% or higher each month as part of a deal to avoid a state takeover.
School bus safety has also been a key focal point for Boston officials since 5-year-old Lens Joseph was struck and killed by a bus in Hyde Park last April. An independent investigation into BPS’s transportation system found that Transdev, the district’s contractor, had “incomplete and unreliable” driver training files and demonstrated an “inability to maintain accurate and complete training data.”
Mayor Michelle Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper have said BPS will implement all recommendations outlined in the independent report.
“Drivers have been working really hard,” Wu said Thursday, according to The Boston Globe. “There have been more training runs done than ever before. And there’s been a lot of work put in to make sure that it can go as smooth as it can.”
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