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NYC school leaders say bus shortage could affect thousands of students
By
Jessica Gould
Published Sep 6, 2026
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By
Jessica Gould
Published Sep 6, 2026
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Thousands of New York City students may not have the yellow buses they need to get to school when classes resume Thursday.
New York City Public Schools’ Office of Pupil Transportation sent out a letter to school leaders last month saying they had not yet secured enough bus companies to serve students. The nonprofit Advocates for Children of New York shared the letter with Gothamist.
“Due to a shortage of available school bus vendors and increased transportation needs some yellow bus routes may not have a vendor available to operate the route at the start of the school year,” the letter sent to administrators said.
Randi Levine, policy director at Advocates for Children, said education officials informed her group that roughly 2,000 students may not have bus vendors in place by Sept. 10, the first day of school. Most, if not all, of those students are students with disabilities, Levine said.
“We are deeply concerned about the thousands of students with disabilities at risk of not having bus service for the start of the school year,” Levine said. “This bus shortage could result in children missing school and families scrambling to make other plans or potentially having to miss work.”
The potential shortage was first reported by The Daily News.
The letter to administrators said the school system would be providing all students affected by the shortage with prepaid rideshares. It did not say how long students would be without buses.
“Transportation should never be a barrier to education – that is why we are working quickly to route every student as quickly as possible,” education department spokesperson Dominique Ellison said in a statement. “We anticipate a vast majority of students will be routed by the first day of school. Over the next few weeks, any family currently waiting [for] a route will hear directly from their school to ensure they have all they need to get to school safely.”
The city’s yellow buses serve about 150,000 students, and the vast majority are students with disabilities who rely on the buses to get to and from specialized programs. But the large and complex school bus system has long been plagued by dysfunction, often creating chaos for some families during the back-to-school season.
Parents have complained for decades about inconsistent service, no-show buses and delays. Last year, an education panel refused to sign off on a five-year contract with some of the largest companies because of the problems, opting for a three-year-contract in order to negotiate service improvements instead. Bus problems are a recurring feature of the back-to-school season.
Education department spokesperson Ellison acknowledged busing problems are a longstanding issue.
“So while we work to ensure a smooth first day of school, we are also looking to tackle longstanding issues by enhancing career pipelines, expanding bus fleets and more,” she said.
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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