The Globe has the list for communities west of Boston.
How school bus fees in Newton compare to other communities
by Greg Reibman | Aug 21, 2015 | Newton | 16 comments
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The Globe has the list for communities west of Boston.
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
I think it is interesting to see that there are several very urban communities that charge absolutely nothing for bus fees yet most – but not all (Dover sherborn, for example) charge for bus fees. What’s up with that? What other fees do these communities charge?
Here is the link to the NPS fees for 2015-16 – http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/cms/lib8/MA01907692/Centricity/Domain/91/Fee%20Letter%20to%20parents%202015-2016.pdf
The school committee will have a report on fees this fall before any preliminary budget discussions begin.
In some school districts, almost every student rides the bus. In others (like Brookline) hardly anyone does. Some districts own and operate their own buses. Others use an outside company to do so. Regional school districts like Dover-Sherborn receive some additional state funding for transportation. All of these factors influence the fees charged for buses – or lack of fees.
Newton no longer charges any fees for elementary students who ride the bus. It would be great to see the same happen for elementary instrumental music – the science increasingly points to the many benefits of learning an instrument to brain development – http://www.nafme.org/take-action/what-to-know/all-research/
For NNHS students a steet parking permit is only $25 for the year vs $310 for the bus. These should be reversed, with parking helping to pay bus fees.
Newton’s bus fees are crazy. Living in an urban setting, and kids living too far to walk, there should be NO bus fee. In addition, the PARKING FEE should be MORE than the bus fee. This is CRAZY. When commuting to Boston it is CHEAPER to take public transportation than park in a private lot. Lets start doing that for our high school kids. NO BUS FEES! $600/year parking fee.
Who sets the fees?
So many districts have no fees! People in Newton talk about how much traffic we have. Encourage the kids to take the BUS for free!!!!! Reduce the amount of parents driving. What other things can we do to reduce traffic in our great city? Reward parents for having their kids take the bus!!!!!! Charge NOTHING for the bus!
@Nathan & Newton Mom, the Newton North parking is all street parking by permit. The spaces are assigned and the rates are set by the Newton police. All the spaces are within a parking by permit only zone and everyone, students and residents, pay the same for a street permit. I believe the aldermen have set the permit parking rates, but I’m not sure of that. It is not something that the school committee has a hand in nor does the school department get any revenue from the program.
Newton South onsite parking is another matter and I happen to agree that it should be more expensive to get a parking spot in a school parking lot than to take the bus.
I’d also be interested to compare the number of buses each of these districts provide. Newton is three to five times the size of many of these districts. Some of these districts have as many students in the entire district as we do at one high school and they may, as a consequence, own and operate their own buses.
Thank you, Margaret. I hope the School Dept and Traffic Council work together to correct the disincentive to use the bus at NNHS.
The Board of Aldermen sets parking rates for NNHS student permits (TIGER permits), and for every other type of parking permit. Setting parking fees is not under the authority of the the Newton Traffic Bureau, nor the Newton Traffic Council.
The Traffic Bureau manage/enforces the parking program, and Traffic Council determines where the spaces are located.
The School Board sets fees for parking on school property, including the lots at NSHS.
The Board of Aldermen can change the rate for TIGER permits (and for every other type of parking permit where parking occurs on public streets). I think that the Board of Aldermen may have an item in front of them right now that could change the rate for TIGER pemits, but it may be too late for this school year.
I agree with Newton Mom. We shouldn’t be charging for fees like these. To me, these costs should really be seen as a true cost of operating our schools and should be paid for like everything else, through our taxes.
We all know how congested our streets have become and how unsafe it can be to walk at any age, especially in winter with all the issues of sidewalk clearing, etc. That Newton doesn’t provide a free alternative to safely get our kids to their schools seems really unfortunate. It’s really a quality of life issue.
Elsewhere in this chain we are told about the different groups with authority over different (parking) fees. There’s no coordination at all. Who is responsible for coordinating policies across the City to ensure common sense goals are met like charging less for a bus than for a parking space at a school? Is this the Mayor, the BOA? It seems to me that our government isn’t working as it should be when these things happen…
I absolutely agree with most on this thread, we should encourage students to take public transportation by charging less on the bus than parking. Margaret how much does school transportation cost?
Michael, there’s presently no city policy on whether it’s a desirable for students to take the bus, be driven or arrive by other means. When pressed, I’ve yet to find an elected official who will take a position. Instead, the answer seems to be that the city must satisfy everyone, thus the car wins. I think Newton needs a transportation policy to stake out a position on simple matters like these so we can ask ourselves what a good outcome is everytime we set fees, build a school drop-off zone or demolish a house to build a parking lot. Other cities have school transportation policies. The nearest community with one I’m aware of is Lexington, Mass. It would seem that the School Committee and/or the Mayor could help drive creation of such policies.
@Tom school buses cost $2.3 million. 29 buses. 27 for public school students. 2 for private school students (this is requirement of state law). Approximately $400,000 of bus fees are collected each year for a total cost to NPS of $1.9 million.
@Adam, I’m somewhat familiar with Lexington’s transportation policy and have talked with Judith Crocker on the Lexington School Committee who was behind that policy.
Margaret,
Do the schools have buyers who make sure the schools are taking advantage of it’s buying power? I know the city side has someone, maybe you use the same person. Any thoughts?
How about checking for bus passes???
About once a year the passes are checked which means
There are a ton of families getting a free ride.
It makes me angry that I am honest and turn
Over my hard earned money when I hear parents
At open house tell me they never buy a bus pass.
And that no one checks. Either have a free ride for all
Or install a system that swipes. Enough with the
Free rides.
@Tom, the bus contract is put out to bid. For a complete explanation of the yellow bus contract and costs see page 202 of the FY 2016 budget book. It is online at the NPS site.
I’m with newton mom on this. Not only am I tired of hearing other parents say they never buy bus passes because no one checks, I’m completely fed up with dangerously overcrowded buses. When you complain to the transportation office, they claim that the number of passes does not exceed the capacity of the bus. Then why are middle school kids sitting three across or in the aisle?
It’s good newton mom and Tricia spoke up because obviously there is a real problem. How can NPS justify charging a large fee for students to ride the bus but not check for bus passes? Why does the problem not get addressed when parents are complaining that there are too many kids on the bus?
I have never understood completely why riding buses to school was free when my kids rode them 20 years ago but now they cost over $300/year. That is quite a jump.