delays in Boston
The district, Cornell said, feels stuck with the service it gets from this company and its owner Beacon Mobility, a national transit corporation. Its contract was finalized last summer, and the company was the sole bidder for the job. Salem is far from alone in dealing with weak competition for school bus contracts, according to the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and other statewide education groups.
"There’s just not enough buses anymore anywhere across the country," said Reipold, adding that companies with a full roster of bus drivers are in high demand and cost a premium. Earlier this month, some of these complaints culminated in a formal complaint to state education leaders from Greater Boston Legal Services and a prominent child advocacy group in the state.