Bus issues
“Due to a variety of industry issues, Newton and other communities are experiencing severe shortages of bus drivers.” So write Newton Public Schools officials in a letter to NPS bus families. The consequence of driver shortages? “[S]tudents riding our buses may experience delays or gaps in routes.”
https://twitter.com/newton_ps/status/1038423699190374400
Any hypotheses about what’s going to happen as a result of “delays or gaps in [bus] routes”?
I’m not an economics professor, but I’m gonna guess a pretty quick cure to the “industry issues” resulting in a driver shortage would be increased wages.
We are so misaligned in Newton on school transportation policy. Any child living within two miles of school has to pay $350 (up to a family cap of $700). And, now, because the city (through contractor Eastern Bus) is not paying drivers enough, that $350 doesn’t even get you decent service. Meanwhile, it costs nothing to drive to school.
Is it any wonder that streets around schools are choked with traffic?
