SAUGUS — The School Committee’s transportation subcommittee met Wednesday night to discuss the upcoming bus bids, focusing specifically on regular day buses.
Pola Andrews, executive director of Finance and Administration, led the discussion, focusing on current transportation issues and future hopes.
“I think all of these bus companies are very overextended. They came out of the pandemic without a fleet and drivers. They’re still struggling for drivers, and it’s not a good situation,” Andrews said.
The subcommittee has noticed that there have been problems in the past with having very few drivers and occasionally needing to double up the buses.
Andrews continued the discussion, bringing up possible tools that could help them in the future with bus routes.
“I propose that we put tools into this contract to assist the transportation program that the vendor must have,” she said. “We’ve asked for a parent communication app…I also want on-board tablets that go on the dash, and they provide turn-by-turn directions for the drivers.”
The subcommittee agreed that the tablets would also help substitute drivers know the exact routes to go.
The group is anticipating the possible prices for the contracts and is preparing the bids for the upcoming process.
