BOSTON (WHDH) - State officials are now pushing the Boston Public Schools to do something about busing issues as the district continues to deal with late arrivals for students taking the bus.
Pressure is coming from the Massachusetts Inspector General, who is asking the Boston Public Schools and the district’s superintendent to increase oversight of school buses as the district gets ready to seal the deal on a new five year contract with its current bus provider — Transdev.
Inspector general Jeffrey Shapiro said he spent two months looking into how Transdev emerged as the only bidder for the new busing contract.
Shapiro said he’s concerned about what he said was the company’s failure to get kids to school on time.
As part of a state ordered district improvement plan, 95% of Boston school buses must be on time each month. Right now, though, Shapiro said the district is not meeting that goal.
Shapiro issued several recommendations to the district to crack down on late buses over the course of the new contract.
Among recommendations, he said the district should prioritize GPS repairs on buses and remove buses from service if GPS devices are not working.
He said the district should also improve geofencing around schools to accurately report bus arrival times and assign specific district officials to track on-time performance and make sure Transdev is meeting its goals.
7NEWS reached out to Transdev for a response to the inspector general’s recommendations but had not heard back as of Wednesday morning.
Boston school administrators are expected to present their new contract to the Boston School Committee in roughly two weeks.
A vote is expected at the end of the month.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)