Student Transportation Specialist, OPT - Queens, NY

Position Summary

The Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) is dedicated to providing the students of New York City with safe, clean, dependable, efficient, cost‑effective, and prompt transportation. OPT is responsible for supporting the educational process by providing services that are essential for the children's education but occur outside of the classroom. Under the oversight of the OPT, the Student Transportation Specialist assists in ensuring that children are transported to schools safely and efficiently.

The Student Transportation Specialist will coordinate and monitor the transportation of eligible students through contracted carriers by State and local law. The Student Transportation Specialist will be responsible for assigning bus routes for school‑aged students to and from school within a specified geographic location and will address busing service issues and assist parents, students, and administrators in providing yellow school bus service to students.

The Student Transportation Specialist role will provide support for the NYCPS’s Student Transportation Information and Data Enterprise System (STRIDES) initiative, which includes, but is not limited to:

• Real‑time bus tracking and student boarding information, implemented through an inexpensive, GPS‑enabled tablet running the “Bus Driver App” (a customized version of the Via Driver App), which provides drivers with turn‑by‑turn navigation and digitally records student boarding and alighting.
• Real‑time, sophisticated notification system connecting all stakeholders (parents/caregivers and students via app and/or text, and NYCPS and school administrators through a dedicated web‑based console). The system will provide automated updates on real‑time bus location, student boarding and alighting, route changes, vehicle delays, etc. It will also allow NYCPS administrators to initiate notifications and seamlessly communicate with drivers, parents/caregivers, and students.
• Automated and dynamic vehicle routing, optimized for traffic conditions and last‑minute changes to advance and improve the student transportation experience.
• Modernization of OPT systems

Chief of Staff, Office of Pupil Transportation

N/A

Relationships will be fostered with OPT administration, school bus transportation providers, school‑based administration, and representatives from the Office of School Health, Special Education Office, Committees on Preschool Special Education, and the Office of Students in Temporary Housing, as well as community‑based organizations (CBOs), contracted vendors and parents.

Community Support/School Support

• Supports schools in the delivery of high‑quality transportation services and support to families.
• Provides information and guidance to parents/guardians of students about transportation accommodations associated with student placement.
• Coordinates contact with various offices within the New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) and school bus transportation providers, as well as with outside agencies and CBOs, regarding transportation accommodation requests.
• Performs difficult and responsible support operations in transportation services for general education and special education students.
• Collaborates with OPT managers, school bus transportation providers, schools, and other interested parties in responding to school inquiries regarding yellow bus and Metro Card services.

Support to the Office of Pupil Transportation

• Assists in the routing and scheduling of contracted vehicles and personnel to ensure that adequate transportation services are provided for general and special education students in public and non‑public schools.
• Organizes and schedules the timely establishment of bus routes for all eligible pupils.
• Determines student eligibility for reduced fare passes on contracted vehicles or public transportation.
• Directs the designation of specific routes and modes of transportation to be utilized by individual students.
• Prepares detailed and comprehensive reports for the Deputy Senior Executive Director, or their designee, and other stakeholders, e.g., statistics concerning the number of pupils…