EXCLUSIVE: A local bus company has been denied any further contracts this morning as an investigation was launched into their reliability and capabilities, TLS has learned. The investigation, initiated by Board of Education member Yoni Silver was launched after the board received dozens of complaints about the company’s practices.
“I have received numerous complaints from school principals regarding this issue, and I have forwarded them to the transportation department”, Board of Ed member Yoni Silver tells TLS. “After a brief review of the matter, the district decided this would warrant an investigation”, he said.
Most of the complaints were about the company’s capabilities claiming the bus company evidently can’t handle the routes, as they fail to be on time for pick-ups and drop-offs.
However, some complaints were allegations about the reliabilities and responsibilities of the drivers of the company.
“A mother complained how she was threatened by a driver after the parent complained that a driver placed children’s lives in jeopardy when the driver stopped into a store while the kids remained on the bus”, Silver says.
“The board thus decided to vote down any new contract approvals with the company until the investigation is completed” Silver said.
Just this morning, seven contracts were turned down from the company.
Silver adds, “The vendor was invited to press their case at the next board meeting” and says the board has in the interim rejected all further contracts “until the matter is resolved and the vendor proves worthy of carrying out their responsibilities without jeopardizing the safety of Lakewood’s children.
If there are safety concerns, why is the vendor allowed to continue servicing the existing contracts?
Its about time something is being done . However why do we need to complain to the board members about this before anything gets taken care of.
Its about time something is done about that company. With the way they operate, its only through chasdei hashem that there haven’t been any major accidents
a local bus company? Who is it? This is important information, especially since our children are at jeopardy. Please someone tell us who this company is.
What company? I don’t want my child placed in danger.
what one can do with there own hand nobody else can do, the bus serevice has dug them selves a big hole- till now us parrents were put in the hole now it seems like its there chance
The (moderated) school has bed bugs in four class rooms and everybody wants to be hush hush.” Don’t tell anyone because you will lose your job.” Something needs to be done !!! Is it the same with the bus contracts?
Finally the board does something right!This company has been a disaster all year
My kids came home from school 5 times at least 45 minutes late this year.how can I tell my school to switch companies?
Why is the school name being moderated? What is their to hide? Everybody is afraid to speak up when something is wrong. The school has a bad infestation of bed bugs and you moderate the name so that nothing gets done. I guess I will call the board of Health myself because I don’t have a job to protect.
I heard 1 principal had 2 drive home kids herself
oh great! now i gotta worry about bed bugs besides my children being driven to school in an unsafe manner.
Who is the bus company and who is the school?
The parents deserve a right to know this information, stop protecting people when there is a problem that we should all know about.
doesn’t anyone care about our children!
Well done board members!!it has been a long time coming,parents are fuming
this summer we asked for a bus driver from (moderated) nishet unzerer bus company to be removed from our sons camp route as hew was saying racial jokes and ticking the kids. our camp immedialty asked for anew driver.
sadly he is still driving school buses for the same company- nishet unzerer for our mosdos.
This is like “Russian roulette” we have a right to know what company it is before I send my children of to school? this is a safety concern.
your welcome
To # 16 – Smartie. Thanks.
To YONI slilver
I appreciate your work on this issue but why when I a parent of TT was calling and calling all the BOE members was I ignored can u explain the difference??
TLS Your are cheapening your website. You need to name the company.
I hope the cop that didn’t allow the kid to be alone at the bus stop, will be on top of this one!
We have been trying to pressure the District for years to get rid of them! We have been threatened…………………………..
I think that all this commenting is crazy!!! From my experience I would think it is one bus company, but from the comments (especially #21) I now think it is another one.
what’s the secret? ask anyone and they will tell you
You know the chachomim of this town are right! I’m getting rid of the internet, I get NO information from it – even if I need it!
In yiddish I would say its pretty clear which company it is.
To Yoni Silver, he gives of himself tirelessly for the good of our children.
To Yiddishe mama – you only have internet to get information from TLS? It’s not worth it!
I hope its the same company that transports my daughter to school. The driver does 2 shifts every morning, the first shift, gets to school very early (at times before the school opens), the second shift gets to school late. Last year my daughter got picked up on route #1 and this year route #2. (Besides for the fact that the driver drives like a maniac because she has to get both routes done.) When I called to complain to the company they kept telling me that it wasn’t true.
Whew! From what I’m reading and from all the other school problem, I’m glad my kids are grown and out of school….Uh Oh, my eineklach are there now, one in Bais Hatorah and one in Tiny Tots, A”H. WHat’s a zaidy to do?
I was driving just yesterday on Kennedy Blvd, and i saw this company
bus almost hit a boy on a bike. I was going to call the company to issue a complaint when i heard the latest that they were being canceled. Maybe they should go into buisness with Tiny Tots !
I have 2 daughters that get transpported by this company 1 in 2nd grade and 1 in 1st grade.They came home from school 1 hour late 5 times this year already.In the morning he skips their stop many mornings,sometimes they wait alone for moe than a half an hour.Ihope my school gets to switch companies already.Thank You boe for helping us out on this.Iknow the school principal told us how frustrated she is with them
Thanks for bringing this to light,we have been concernrd for the safety of our children for a long time.Some of this companies drivers are real rude and drive dangerously
#21 Principal,
Who was threatening you? (The plot thickems!)
Come on, don’t be afraid, say it out.
We nerd only drum drivers & companies
I was posting this comment while driving and almost got hit by one of their busses
What does nerd only drum drivers mean ?
To all those yentas who in the name of safety want tls to share the name with you! Don’t you think that if kids were in imminent danger the boe would do something about it? tls IS NOT THE TOWN WATCH DOG OR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT,THEY ARE HERE TO REPORT THE STORY
ok ok who has the bed bugs , please dont touch me in the stores than you
does the company name rhyme with urphy?
No it does not rhyme with urphy
I’VE BEEN IN LAKEWOOD SINCE THE 1970’S…SINCE GETTING RID OF BOARD BUSING EVERY BUS COMPANY HAS HAD MANY FLAWS
I REALLY THINK PEOPLE ARE OVER SPEAKING…TO MANY DIFFERENT COMPANYS ITS NOT ONE ITS MANY…LAKEWOOD IS TO CROWDED THE COMMUNITY MADE IT THIS WAY…..I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS THE COUNTRY NOT ANY MORE……
This sounds like a lynching to me
what lynching? if the buses are not showing up — take the contract — there is a CONTRACT and in the CONTRACT it says that the bus company has to show up on time EVERY time!!!! pretty elementary in my opinion.
I agree with you Lakewood is to crowded,but all the complaints coming from the schools this year is about this particular company. There must be something to it.
To # 43
I agree,people are always looking for excuses.The fact is you cant excuse a driver making a private stop at a store with 1st and 2nd graders sitting on the bus
ALL Buss drivers from any company should have their license revoked if they drive reckless,
last year my daughter had to walk blocks becuase to bus drivers were hot heads and would not move to the side to let the other one pass. I went out to see what was happening and attempted to get the drivers to calm down and go on their way as there were many kids stuck on the bus in the cold weather for over a half an hour. i even tried the buss drive to speak to theprinicpal on the phone. I had to call police to get the buss drivers to move. of course no one got ticketed or suspended from their companies. THE SAFETY OF THE CHILDREN was the last thing on their minds….
to #25 thanks
WITH THIS AS ANY COMPANY THERE ARE TRULY CARING PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE . AS IN ANY COMPANY YOU WILL FIND A FEW BAD APPLES . BUT THIS COMPANY HAS BE ON THE DEFENSIVE FOR A YEAR NOW . I CAN NOT DISPUTE CLAIMS FROM PARENTS OF LATENESS , DUE TO MYSTERIOUS SCREWS FOUND IN FLAT TIRES , OR WINDSHEILDS DELIBERATLY SMASHED OUT OF BUSES. BUT THIS COMPANY OWNER STILL PERSEVERS BECAUSE OF HIS CARING NATURE TO OUR CHILDREN . I CAN SAY THAT I’M PROUD TO BE EMPLOYED HERE !!!
to ; 48
i hope what your saying is true , i always look for the good in people .
i hope that the owner and his staff have and are given a chance to defend them selves to an impartial boe. maybe this will send a message to all our companies in lakewood that its time to be on point !!!
Number 25 spilled the beans
Every contractor that is awarded transportation contracts , MUST provide a performance bond ,If the contractor DOES NOT perform in accordance with the specifacations of the transportation contract , THE BOARD CAN TAKE LEGAL ACTION. And call in the performance bond from THAT contractor thats not performing which will give the funds to the board of ed., to have the contracts fullfilled in accordance by the specs of the transportation contracts by other school bus contractors. The only Down side of that is the availabilty of DRIVERS & BUSSES , from other contractors in the area.This is not the only town this company contracts with, And they are providing the same poor service for all contracts they hold .If anyone would like to view inspection results of this company or any other school bus in N.J. go to njmvc.gov click on inspections on top of page click on school bus inspections on left side of page click on school vehicle inspection results under inspection results , follow instructions on this page to find out results on any school bus in N.J contractor or school district.My praise to who ever let the cat out of the bag, IT,S BEEN LONG OVERDO!!!!!!!
Its about time people stood up to the power brokers
is the name hufuch?vehamayvin yavin
Kudos to this new team of board members who continually expose the corruption that goes on.Maybe soon it will come to an end.I hope the board attorney does the right thing and terminate its contracts in Lakewood
I have durham for 2 years and they are great. Ontime and normal responsible drivers.
This company has always been run backwards its about time someone turned around and noticed.
Response to 48: I am sure they are nice people to work for and nice people in general. I think they just took more than they can handle, either to make more money or just as an oversight and they can’t keep the routes on schedule.
I am not allowed to say their name but people do refer to them as ” The Double IT UP Co.” meaning they double up routes and double up drivers to do two routes in one routes time,
the problem is – if you pay peanuts- you hire (moderated)
if the boe would pay fairly for the contracts- the owners of the bus companies would be able to afford to hire better drivers….
wouldent it make sense that if we are paying over 50% of our r.e. taxes to schooling- that we should get normal bussing?
Its just a shoddy job. Get the contracts with low bids and then just get it done in the cheapest most financially beneficial way by doing more runs with the same buses and drivers than responsibly possible. I would compare this to a builder luring customers with cheaper prices and then after the contract is signed just doing shoddy work and building poor quality unsafe houses. As they say in spanish ” you get what you pay for” . If it seems to cheap to be true then it usually is. I’m happy the boe realized that there is more to a bid than just the price just as I learned a few years ago there is more to a house than just the price. Its quality that comes first ESPECIALY when it comes to SAFETY. Thank you mr silver for putting safety and quality over price.
It’s about time! Most dangerous drivers around.
responce to ; 57