South Orangetown forms transportation committee; district spends $7 million annually and eyes electric buses, routing pilot

The South Orangetown Central School District announced a new transportation committee Wednesday to study routes, ridership, consolidation and compliance with the New York State Education Department’s electric-bus mandate.

Dr. Gulak told the board the committee — to be led by Michelle Stevens, the district’s director of transportation — will review two prior district transportation studies (2010 and 2020), analyze current ridership and routing, and evaluate whether purchasing one or more district-owned buses for intra-district trips would be cost effective. “We spend $7,000,000 a year on transportation,” the superintendent said, providing budget context for the committee’s work.

The committee will also consider the district’s approach to the state electric-bus requirements. A separate facilities committee report noted that consultant Clark Patterson Lee (CPL) submitted a Fleet Electrification Plan to NYSCRDA as part of preliminary planning; the facilities report included William O’Shaffer and Soames as potential lot spaces for bus storage but said those spaces may conflict with other site plans.

Administrators described a student-built app called Way to Go, developed by the district’s computer science students, that routes buses more efficiently and can track when students board and exit. The superintendent said Mr. Brady met with the computer science students to plan a pilot in the coming weeks or months.

No formal board vote was taken on transportation policy or capital funding at the meeting; the transportation committee was formed for study and recommendation to staff and the board.