Building a Better School Bus System for New York City
NYCSBUS was created to deliver safe, reliable, and forward-looking school transportation for New York City families. Since launching service, we have grown into a mission-driven operator focused on safety, transparency, workforce opportunity, and the transition to a cleaner fleet. This timeline highlights some of the milestones that have shaped our journey.
A Timeline of Progress
Our Start
After years of environmental, social justice, and labor advocacy for a non-commercial alternative to New York City’s school bus system, NYCSBUS was established as a non-stock, non-profit corporation. In July 2021, NYCSBUS signed a five-year contract to provide school bus service to the City. On October 29, 2021, the organization purchased the assets of Reliant Transportation, including more than 900 vehicles, leases on five depots, and a dedicated team of bus monitors, drivers, and mechanics. On November 1, the first buses labeled NYCSBUS rolled into service.
Taking Full Control
NYCSBUS was originally expected to have operations managed by Reliant for two years. Instead, NYCSBUS ended that arrangement early, reduced costs, and assumed full operational control in May 2022.
Measuring Temperature Inside Buses
NYCSBUS believes that if we all have more information we can make better decisions. In summer 2022, we piloted temperature sensors inside buses. What did we learn? That we had to find less expensive sensors. Stay tuned...
Keeping Families Informed
NYCSBUS rolled out a parent text messaging system so families could receive updates about bus arrivals and share feedback about our service directly with our team.
Winning Our First Electric Bus Grants
NYCSBUS secured its first grant for electric school buses. Over the next two years NYCSBUS will be awarded over $100 million in federal funding supporting the purchase of 322 electric school buses. Mayor Adams joined us in celebrating this success.
Leading New York State Electrification
Working alongside partners including WRI, Bronx Community College, CALSTART, The Mobility House, and the New York League of Conservation Voters, NYCSBUS won one of New York State’s Clean Transportation Prizes, earning $8 million to help lead school bus electrification statewide.
Our First Electric Bus Hits the Road
Electric bus #NT0102 completed its first route, X919, marking the start of NYCSBUS electric operations. It was an early but important step toward a cleaner and more sustainable school bus fleet. By March 5, 2025 our fleet of electric buses will have traveled 25,499 miles, the equivalent of once around the world , plus a few trips from our South Staten Island depot to Lloyds Carrot Cake in the Bronx.
Partnering with South Bronx Unite
NYCSBUS participates its first annual South Bronx Bike and Electric Bus Tour hosted by South Bronx Unite. The partnership continued to grow, and in January 2024 South Bronx Unite installed an air quality monitoring station at our Zerega depot.
Piloting Stop-Arm Cameras
In partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation, NYCSBUS began piloting stop-arm cameras on school buses to help protect students during loading and unloading.
Support for New Arrivals
As NYC addresses thousands of new arrivals, NYCSUBS is asked to provide transportation, helping our newest residents move from intake locations to temporary housing around New York City.
Helping Shape Safer School Buses
With input from NYCSBUS, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the City of New York released a first-in-the-nation Safe Fleet Transition Plan focused on improving school bus design and safety.
Innovating Grid Connections
NYCSBUS and The Mobility House installed a first-on-the-East-Coast depot connection to the electric grid governed primarily by a computerized measure of load rather than redundant physical breakers. The approach reduced both time and cost for electrifying a vehicle depot. The project later received an Interconnection of the Year Award.
Improving the Basics
Strong service depends on getting the fundamentals right. After significant challenges with air conditioning and call center response in earlier years, NYCSBUS made major progress. By summer 2024, only 0.8% of route days were affected by AC repairs, and by fall 2024 the company answered 91% of opening-week calls within 30 seconds.
Going Public with Our Performance
NYCSBUS began publishing daily public performance updates, sharing data on on-time arrivals, collisions, breakdowns, and parent call response rates. Transparency is not the finish line, but it helps show where progress is happening and where more work remains.
Testing New Safety Cameras
Following the Safe Fleet Transition Plan, NYCSBUS and Together for Safer Roads launched a pilot of exterior cameras combined with AI to support safer school bus operations.
Sharing What We’re Learning About Electric Buses
Because school districts and operators have had limited access to real-world electric bus performance data, NYCSBUS launched the Electric Vehicle Activity Report to help fill that gap and share practical insights from the field.
Welcoming New New Yorkers
In partnership with Afrikana and The Center for Family Life, NYCSBUS welcomed its first class of immigrant drivers into its training program, opening new pathways to stable, skilled careers while helping strengthen the school transportation workforce.
Supporting Faster Buses and Better Transit
NYCSBUS submitted an amicus brief supporting the MTA’s congestion pricing plan, arguing that reduced traffic improves student travel times and helps children spend less time on the bus and more time in school. Of all the amici, only NYCSBUS's was noted by the court in its ruling in favor of the congestion plan.
Committing to Results
Those same mechanics who made it so every bus's air conditioning works all the time... With them NYCSBUS completed a labor agreement that provides additional compensation in return for stronger performance, reinforcing the link between workforce investment and better outcomes for New York City families.
Supporting New Vendors
In response to a shortage of bus drivers, and to expand the pool of bus companies with experience to serve NYC schools, NYCSBUS begins to contract with other bus companies to complete some of its routes. To support this work NYCSBUS builds vendor management software that supports these companies. Beyond expanding the availability of busing, our outreach brought MWBE vendors into the school bus vendor community, providing opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups.
Expanding Bus Use
During a broader city conversation about after-school and weekend transportation, NYCSBUS expanded its use of geospatial planning tools to support more midday trips and a pilot pre-K field trip program.
Training the Next Generation of Drivers
One year into operating a driving school focused on helping new New Yorkers enter the industry, NYCSBUS had trained 113 people, with 78 earning commercial driver’s licenses and access to more work opportunities.
Blizzard Response
During the winter of 2026 NYCSBUS was called on twice, to provide warming buses outside shelters and hospitals and in the record snowfall to chain up our tires and drive shoveling crews around the city overnight to clear snow.
Hosting an Electric Bus Expo
With support from Empire Clean Cities, the World Resources Institute, and other partners, NYCSBUS hosted an electric bus expo for transportation providers and school districts across the region. The event gave participants the opportunity to compare vehicle models and charging technologies, learn about funding opportunities, and prepare for a more sustainable future. We had popcorn (the popcorn maker was electric bus powered) and bus rides and free food. And an electric school bus playlist.
Piloting Tech for NYC Schools
NYC's school bus office asked NYCSBUS to pilot an application that allows the Board of Ed to see which students are actually riding buses so that OPT can better optimize its routing. NYCSBUS rolled out a training program integrated with our regular staff refresher training, produced a training guide and video for city-wide use and started to use the ridership tracking within three weeks.