BPS bus performance in the afternoon is still lagging, officials are monitoring ‘interruptions’ from MBTA closures – Boston Herald

BPS officials reported Wednesday bus on-time performance is improving, but afternoon trips are still experiencing higher disruptions — with the MBTA Orange Line closure potentially set up to throw another wrench into schools’ transportation.

“The transportation team continues to work hard and to take steps to address the challenges that we saw at the beginning of school,” Superintendent Mary Skipper began a report to the Boston School Committee on Wednesday night. “We know we have more work ahead, but the team has made steady progress.”

While the morning bus routes on-time performance has pulled even with last year’s rates, Skipper reported her team is “urgently working” on afternoon routes “where there is more work to be done.

At the same time, the team is monitoring the disruptions hitting Boston traffic during the Orange Line closure, which will be replaced by shuttle buses through Oct. 20.

Morning buses on-time performance average 89% of buses arriving by the first bell for the week of Sept. 30, “comparable” to the same week for the 2023-24 school year and an increase from 85% the week before, Skipper said. Since Sept. 17, the eleventh day of school, over 99% of morning buses have arrived within 30 minutes late, she noted.

But afternoon buses continue to lag significantly behind morning buses’ performance.

In the week of Sept. 30, afternoon buses averaged 78% on-time performance, the superintendent reported. During the same week in the 2023-24 year, afternoon buses average 85% on-time performance.

Skipper said the transportation team is “monitoring” the impact of the MBTA closure on routes, assess and revise problem routes each week and gather feedback from families. Skipper noted the first day of the Orange line shutdown “doubled” her morning commute, an impact “directly correlated” to bus performance too.

The BPS Transportation Director Dan Rosengard said they’ve seen a slight dip in on time performance on Wednesdays when route changes are implemented. Rosengard also noted some routes will go through a “contractually obligated rebid” process at the end of October, which may lead to buses’ drivers changing.

“We’ll do communications to schools and families to make sure they know if they’re on a bus where the driver, the permanent driver, is changing when that goes into effect,” said Rosengard. “And similarly, historically, we have seen a dip in OTP on the first day when that takes effect, which usually recovers within the second or third day. And I think again, Zum should help soften the blow.”

Drivers are “largely through” the Zum learning curve, Rosengard said, and most on time performance gaps from last year are “on the scheduling side” and getting routes “where they need to be” at this point.