Boston — The Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means heard on Jan. 13 that the city is seeking roughly $6.6 million in supplemental FY25 funding to cover the fiscal impact of a new collective bargaining agreement between Transdev and the school bus drivers' union that provides wage increases, higher minimum weekly hours and other benefits.

Budget Director Jim Williamson told the committee the first set of dockets before the panel would “increase the BPS budget by $6,600,000 and reduce the central collective bargaining reserve by an equal amount” to support the contract tied to Boston Public Schools’ transportation vendor, Transdev. Williamson said the FY25 adopted budget included $96.8 million for collective bargaining reserves and that this request would lower that reserve to about $83.1 million once previously approved agreements were counted.

The agreement described by Dan Rosengard, Executive Director of Transportation for Boston Public Schools, is a four‑year successor collective bargaining agreement effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2028. Rosengard summarized the deal as including a market wage adjustment that raises the report hourly rate from $29.13 to $33 in year one, then to $34 in year two, $35 in year three and $35.38 in year four; a reduction in years‑of‑service eligibility for retirement benefits from 30 to 25 years; an increase in the retirement severance amount per year of service (to $1,200 per year of service in year one and rising $100 per year to $1,500 by year four); and an increase in guaranteed minimum weekly hours from 31 to 35, effective July 1, 2025, “upon adoption by the parties of language around work as directed.”

Rosengard said the contract’s “work as directed” language is intended as an operational reform to improve Transdev’s and BPS’s ability to cover athletics trips, field trips and other supplemental transportation that are not otherwise assigned through the drivers’ bid and assignment process. “We anticipate that … the addition of work as directed language is anticipated to improve our ability and Transdev’s ability to cover athletics trips, field trips, and other transportation activities,” Rosengard said.

Councillors pressed administration officials on a range of operational and equity concerns. Councilor Murphy, who asked about the transportation budget baseline, was told by Rosengard that BPS’s transportation budget for FY25 is about $176 million and that the $6.6 million request would be supplemental to that figure. Several councillors asked whether the operational change would guarantee student‑athlete trips; Rosengard said, “I would never make guarantees, but I would say that that was the primary issue that we were seeking to improve through the operational reform with the work as directed.”

Councilors also sought clarification on how the guaranteed hours increase would be implemented in practice. Rosengard explained that each driver’s assigned route carries a flat‑rate number of hours; roughly 150 of about 640 routes this school year have less than 35 hours and the contract change would affect drivers on those routes by guaranteeing 35 hours pay and allowing assignment of additional work to fill gaps, subject to final work‑as‑directed language.

Officials confirmed workforce counts and reimbursement structure: Rosengard said USW Local 8751 represents about 888 Transdev‑employed school bus drivers (about 750 actively working, the administration said), and that under the contract between BPS and Transdev the city reimburses Transdev for unionized personnel wages, fringe benefits and payroll taxes “as approved by the city.”

Councillors asked operational questions that administration staff said they are continuing to address, including interim plans before July 1, prioritization of trips where MBTA might be an alternative, use of vans or other contingency transportation, communication with athletics staff, and whether changes to the routing/bidding system would be made. Officials said the daily supplemental trip bid is posted three business days in advance and that trips not assigned in that process go into a daily standby bid that is staffed at 12:30 p.m. for same‑day assignments — a timing point councillors linked to last‑minute coverage challenges.

The hearing did not record a committee vote. Committee members discussed whether to schedule a final vote before work‑as‑directed language is finalized; the administration said that language is still in progress and that timing for a council vote was not certain.

Details and background

• Contract term: July 1, 2024–June 30, 2028 (four years).
• Market report rate: from $29.13 to $33.00 in year 1; scheduled increases to $34.00, $35.00 and $35.38 in later contract years, as summarized by BPS staff.
• Retirement/severance: eligibility reduced from 30 to 25 years; severance per year of service increased to $1,200 in year 1 and rising to $1,500 by year 4 (as summarized by administration).
• Minimum weekly guaranteed hours: increase from 31 to 35 hours per week effective July 1, 2025, contingent on work‑as‑directed language between Transdev and the union.
• Driver counts: 888 drivers on the roster (including those on leave); roughly 750 active drivers currently, administration said.
• FY25 transportation budget context: administration cited approximately $176 million prior to this supplemental request; committee members raised other estimates during Q&A.

The committee also heard questions about wheelchair accessibility on supplemental trips, recruitment (including outreach to veterans), and longer‑term options such as whether the city could employ drivers directly; officials said those ideas have been discussed historically but no analysis or proposal was before the committee.

The hearing on the Transdev items is one of four dockets the committee considered on Jan. 13 related to collective bargaining reserve appropriations; the MOH (SEIU) supplemental appropriation was considered in the same session (see separate article).