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Transportation director reports 87% on‑time performance and flags CDTA swipe, ID-card and monitor issues
Summary
Director Dorette Miles told the Albany City School District board the district is seeing an early-year 87% on‑time rate, has 105 home‑school routes, and faces integration challenges with CDTA’s stricter swipe enforcement and student ID card hardware failures. Board members pressed for short‑term safety measures including more monitors and off‑board swipe options.
Dorette Miles, director of transportation for the Albany City School District, told the school board the district has made progress on routes and staffing but faces persistent operational challenges tied to student behavior, ID-card hardware failures and integration with public-transit provider CDTA.
“We're at 105 currently. That's the most we've had since I've been here,” Miles said, citing the number of home‑school routes. Miles said the district has worked to add drivers and vehicles under a recent RFP, increase monitors on general education routes (about 80% currently) and dedicate a larger portion of the fleet to special‑education routes to reduce ride duration and safety risks.
On performance metrics, Miles reported that the district is seeing roughly an 87% on‑time performance rate early in the year, below the district's 90% target for first‑tier routes but an improvement over recent years. She cautioned that statistics are still stabilizing as the year begins and that second‑tier routes remain vulnerable to delays that cascade from first‑tier problems.
Miles described integration issues with CDTA, saying the transit agency's new emphasis on fare evasion and stricter swipe enforcement has produced more accurate ridership numbers but also operational friction. “Their new CEO has been focused on fare evasion, and has implemented new strategies to ensure students are eligible prior to boarding,” Miles said. She added that Albany High shows elevated ID‑related problems, which may have skewed its reported ridership.
The director also outlined technical problems with student ID cards, including demagnetization and false failure reports that show prior successful swipes on backend logs. Miles said she plans to meet with the district IT department and may seek a new card/printer vendor if needed.
On safety and accountability, Miles said the district has equipped First Student buses with more than 100 cameras and that the city will begin enforcing stop‑arm fines after a 30‑day warning period; the transcript lists a fine schedule (first offense $250, second $275, third $300) though the record contains typographic spacing in the original wording. Board members suggested immediate measures such as placing district monitors on the most problematic CDTA tripper routes, off‑board swiping kiosks and exploring phone‑based payment or authentication to reduce missed swipes.
Board members pressed Miles on short‑term solutions for crowded routes — notably a North Albany tripper line averaging dozens of students — and on whether CDTA or the district should manage enforcement and monitors. Miles and board members said the expiring CDTA contract this year creates a chance to negotiate dedicated aids or monitors in future agreements.
The board did not vote on any transportation items at the meeting but asked staff to keep this topic on the front burner and return with updated data in December when year‑to‑date information is more stable.
Miles’s presentation also confirmed the district has partnered with an outside planner to conduct a child safety zone study with a proposed start in late fall or early winter to inform planning for the 2026–27 school year.
