Wednesday: Yellow Bus Strike

School-bus drivers and matrons in New York City will be launching a citywide strike Wednesday at 6 a.m. — a brutal work stoppage that would force the families of 152,000 kids to scramble for emergency alternatives, says the NY Post.

The strike was called over an impasse on the issue of job protections, which the city removed from newly bid-out bus contracts, the paper reported. It would be the first city school bus strike in 34 years. The last one, in 1979, lasted three months.

Buses for students in prekindergarten or younger will not be affected by the work stoppage, according to a spokeswoman for the bus union.

The following bus companies are with “Local 1181” and will be striking: Amboy / Atlantic Express, Boro Transit / Lonero / Consolidated, Hoyt, Grandpa’s, Safe Coach, Pioneer, Mountainside, Bobbys, Rainbow, MV / Reliant, Tufaro, Gotham.

Yellow busing to be affected in the Crown Heights area are:

Bais Rivkah School – OPT code 17703
Bais Rivka High School – School OPT code 17702
Bnos Menachem – School OPT code 17790
Beis Chaya Mushka – School OPT code 17625
Oholei Torah School – OPT code 17828
Lubavitch Yeshiva – Crown Street School OPT code 17720
Darchei Menachem – School OPT code 17894
HASC on Remsen Avenue – School OPT code 18709

To find out if your child’s bus service is disrupted, click here and enter your school name or OPT Code & Click on “go”. Next to every affected route you will see a “service disrupted” message.

During the strike, the following transportation options are in effect for families of students who currently receive yellow bus service.

Reimbursement for Driving or Taking a Taxi or Car Service:

As an alternative to Metro Cards for parents whose Special Education children receive busing from their home, or for General Education students in grades K through 6 receiving yellow bus service from a school bus stop who live in areas where public transportation between home and school is not readily available, we are offering reimbursement of actual transportation costs.

Parents who drive their children to school will be reimbursed at a rate of 55 cents per mile. Parents who use a taxi or car service to transport their child to school will be reimbursed for the trip upon their completion of reimbursement forms that include a receipt for provided services.

Requests for reimbursements should be made one week at a time using the forms available here and in your school’s main office. The forms ask you to indicate on which school days alternative transportation was taken and whether it was for both the morning and afternoon commute.

It is very important to completely & clearly fill out the forms. Incomplete forms will only mean a delay in processing. School transportation coordinators should provide the Parents with the “student ID” available in “NPSIS” for students requesting reimbursement as this is one of the required fields in the reimbursement form.

Here is a link for five ways to request a New York City wheelchair-accessible taxi for trips originating in Manhattan and ending anywhere in the five boroughs, Westchester and Nassau counties.

Here is a link for a listing of Taxi and Limousine Commission licensed bases by borough and by zip code.