New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 8 - EDUCATION DEPARTMENT › Chapter II - Regulations of the Commissioner › Subchapter J - Buildings And Transportation › Part 156 - Transportation › Section 156.2 - Approval of routes, seating capacities, and computerized bus routing services for state aid purposes

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a)
				  Routes. The mileage to be used for State aid purposes shall be the distance
				  along the highway or highways over which the bus travels, beginning at the
				  schoolhouse where the pupils transported attend and proceeding by the most
				  direct route to convey all the pupils entitled to transportation, and returning
				  to the point of origin; provided that the route may begin at some other point
				  whenever it is established to the satisfaction of the commissioner that the
				  facts warrant. In no event will any route be considered for State aid purposes
				  unless it extends more than a mile and a half from the schoolhouse. No State
				  aid will be available for feeder routes unless the distance traveled is more
				  than one mile.
(b) Approved seating
				  capacity. The approved seating capacities shall be determined on the basis of
				  the number of pupils legally entitled to transportation; provided, however,
				  that no district shall be required to obtain another conveyance when the
				  originally approved capacity is no longer required. Standing passengers shall
				  not be permitted unless it is during the first 10 days of school, or unless it
				  is due to a breakdown, crash or another unforeseen occurrence.
(c) Duplication of service. The Commissioner
				  of Education may disallow capacities and mileage which in his or her judgment
				  are duplication of service and inconsistent with maximum efficiency. Bus routes
				  shall be so arranged that the maximum number of pupils entitled to
				  transportation can be transported with the minimum number of bus miles and for
				  a cost consistent with adequate service.
(d) Other transportation. Nothing herein
				  contained shall prevent trustees and boards of education under rules
				  established by them, from providing transportation in addition to that credited
				  for State aid purposes, provided the same is reasonable and in conformity with
				  the provisions of law, and money is legally available therefor.
(e) Computerized bus routing services.
(1) For purposes of apportionment for
				  transportation services, pursuant to Education Law, section
				  3602(7)(b)(iv),
				  computerized bus routing services shall mean programming, software development
				  and software acquisition which result in the economical and efficient
				  development of school bus routes meeting the criteria of this section and which
				  have been approved by the commissioner. Programming and software development
				  may be provided either by school district personnel or by contract.
(2) Each school district which seeks an
				  apportionment pursuant to Education Law, section
				  3602(7)(b)(iv) shall
				  annually prepare and submit to the commissioner for prior approval a contract
				  or plan describing the service.