File #: Int 0835-2026    Version: * Name: Establishment and maintenance of a school bus performance dashboard.
Type: Introduction Status: Committee
Committee: Committee on Education
On agenda: 4/16/2026
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the establishment and maintenance of a school bus performance dashboard
Sponsors: Lincoln Restler, Eric Dinowitz, Tiffany L. Cabán, Christopher Marte, Pierina Ana Sanchez, Crystal Hudson, Lynn C. Schulman, Frank Morano
Council Member Sponsors: 8
Summary: This bill would require the Department of Education (DOE) to report information related to school bus on-time performance. DOE would be required to report monthly on early and late school bus pickups and drop-offs from home and from school, the amount of time, in minutes, that bus routes were early or late, and missed pickups and drop-offs, among other data points. An office or agency chosen by the mayor would be required to maintain an online dashboard that presents the reported data to the public in an accessible and easy to understand manner.
Indexes: Report Required
Attachments: 1. Summary of Int. No. 835, 2. Int. No. 835, 3. April 16, 2026 - Stated Meeting Agenda

Int. No. 835

 

By Council Members Restler, Dinowitz, Cabán, Marte, P. Sanchez, Hudson, Schulman and Morano

 

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the establishment and maintenance of a school bus performance dashboard

 

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

 

Section 1. Chapter 26 of title 21-A of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended to add a new section 21-994.1 to read as follows:

§ 21-994.1 School bus performance dashboard. a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

Designated office or agency. The term “designated office or agency” means any office or agency designated by the mayor to carry out the requirements of this section.

Early arrival. The term “early arrival” means a school bus arrival at a transportation site that occurs before the applicable school on-time arrival or the applicable home on-time arrival.

General education school bus route. The term “general education school bus route” has the same meaning as set forth in section 21-993.

Home destination. The term “home destination” means a transportation site that is a student’s home or other designated pick-up or drop-off destination that is not a school destination.

Home on-time arrival. The term “home on-time arrival” means a school bus arrival at a student’s home destination that occurs no earlier than ten minutes before, and no later than ten minutes after, the scheduled arrival time, as determined and agreed to in advance by the department and the school bus vendor.

Late arrival. The term “late arrival” means a school bus arrival at a transportation site that occurs after the applicable school on-time arrival or after the applicable home on-time arrival.

Logged in. The term “logged in” means when a school bus driver has authenticated or otherwise indicated their availability for a scheduled school bus route through a tracking platform.

School destination. The term “school destination” means a transportation site that is a public school, nonpublic school, charter school, or office or site that is part of a special education plan.

School bus route. The term “school bus route” has the same meaning as set forth in section 21-993.

School bus transportation services. The term “school bus transportation services” has the same meaning as set forth in section 21-993.

School bus vendor. The term “school bus vendor” has the same meaning as set forth in section 21-993.

School level. The term “school level” means pre-kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, or high school, as applicable.

School on-time arrival. The term “school on-time arrival” means a school bus arrival at a school destination that occurs no earlier than thirty minutes before, and no later than five minutes before, the applicable school session start time, as determined and agreed to in advance by the department and the school bus vendor.

Special education school bus route. The term “special education school bus route” has the same meaning as set forth in section 21-993.

Student ride time. The term “student ride time” means the amount of time expressed in minutes that a student spends on a school bus on a given ride.

Tracking platform. The term “tracking platform” means any electronic system, software application, or telematics platform used by the department or a school bus vendor to monitor or record school bus location, timing, route progress, or driver logged-in status, including but not limited to systems operated by Via or any successor or comparable platform.

Transportation site. The term “transportation site” has the same meaning as set forth in section 21-993.

b. Reporting. Beginning no later than three months after the effective date of this section, and on or before the last day of each month thereafter, the department shall submit to the speaker of the council, and post on the department’s website, a report for the preceding month regarding school bus transportation services. The department shall include in such reports data derived from tracking platforms to the extent such data is available to the department through contract, school bus vendor reporting, or departmental systems.  Each report shall include:

1. All actual recorded school bus arrival times;

2. All other recorded route-level timing data;

3. The total number and percentage of school bus arrivals at each transportation site resulting in school on-time arrivals and home on-time arrivals;

4. The total number and percentage of school bus arrivals at each transportation site that were early arrivals, and, for each such arrival, the exact number of minutes early and whether the early arrival was to a school destination or a home destination;

5. The total number and percentage of school bus arrivals at each transportation site that were late arrivals, and, for each such arrival, the exact number of minutes late and whether the late arrival was to a school destination or a home destination;

6. The total number of instances in which a school bus failed to stop or arrive at a transportation site as scheduled, excluding instances in which no student was scheduled to be picked up or dropped off at such site at the relevant time;

7. A comparison of scheduled arrival times to actual arrival times at transportation sites, expressed in average minutes early or late;

8. A comparison of scheduled student ride times to actual student ride times;

9. Aggregated logged-in driver status for scheduled school bus routes; and

10. The number and percentage of scheduled school bus routes for which a driver was logged in at the scheduled start of the route.

c. Disaggregation. The data required pursuant to subdivision b of this section shall be aggregated citywide and disaggregated by:

1. School bus vendor;

2. School bus route;

3. Transportation site;

4. Type of transportation site;

5. School level;

6. Borough;

7. School district, including specific community school district, district 75, and district 79; and

8. Type of school bus route, including general education school bus route and special education school bus route.

d. Public dashboard. The designated office or agency, in collaboration with the department, shall maintain a publicly accessible online dashboard displaying the information required to be reported pursuant to this section. The dashboard shall include data visualizations, summaries, and explanatory materials to facilitate public understanding of month-to-month school bus transportation performance. Such dashboard shall:

1. Be updated no less frequently than monthly;

2. Present data in a searchable and downloadable format;

3. Present data in a manner that is understandable by parents and students without data analysis backgrounds; and

4. Allow users to view and filter information by, at least, school bus vendor, school bus route, transportation site, type of transportation site, school level, borough, specific community school district, district 75, district 79, and type of school bus route, including general education bus route and special education school bus route.

3. This local law shall take effect in 120 days.

AC

LS # 20272

04/08/2026 5pm