BPS defends higher transportation budget; $105,000 nonperformance damages assessed for March

Councilors pressed Boston Public Schools transportation officials at the April 16 hearing on why the transportation budget has grown even as ridership has declined. The district cited contractual incentives, accountability measures and steady improvements in on‑time performance.

Transportation director Dan Rosengard said the new contract is designed with penalties and incentives and that "on‑time performance this year is the highest that it's been." He said a December increase in uncovered trips prompted the district to assess nonperformance damages in March. "It was about a $105,000," officials said when asked about the assessed amount.

Officials reported the total transportation budget is roughly $197–200 million and committed to supplying the council a disaggregated chart showing how much of that total pays for yellow‑bus routes, door‑to‑door special‑transportation, MBTA passes, charter/private school transport and McKinney‑Vento van services. They told councilors that some large drivers of cost are legally required services (charter/private and out‑of‑district placements) and specialized door‑to‑door trips for students with disabilities.

Council response and next steps: councilors asked for a line‑by‑line breakdown and asked the administration to explain how contractual penalties are applied; administration said nonperformance damages are subtracted from the monthly management fee paid to the contractor.

What’s next: BPS committed to deliver the detailed disaggregation in writing and to explain how the $197–200M total is allocated across service categories. No legislative action was taken at the hearing.