Penfield transportation report: new facility, EV buses, and plan for 14 new buses on May ballot
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Summary
Director of Transportation Mike Geller told the Penfield board the department settled into a new Jackson Road facility, maintained a clean DOT inspection record, and that the district will seek voter approval in May to buy 14 buses (total ~$2.3 million) from the bus-purchase reserve.
Mike Geller, the district’s director of transportation, updated the Penfield Board of Education on Feb. 10 on operations since the move into the district’s new transportation facility at 1340 Jackson Road. "Our transition into the building went so smoothly," Geller said, noting only minor phone and internet issues during the summer move while buses continued to run.
Geller outlined staffing and fleet details: five office staff, 72 DMV-roster drivers, 18 attendants (two training to become drivers), three mechanics plus two part‑time driver-mechanics, and a fleet that includes 61 large buses (eight electric vehicles), 28 minibuses and five wheelchair‑accessible minibuses. He said the department has absorbed runs previously contracted out—saving money and bringing more service in-house—while continuing to work with BOCES on certain routes.
The director reported the district’s DOT inspections were exemplary: "Our current rating again is 100% from 109 inspections over the past year. We’ve had no out of services," he said. Geller said mileage has grown substantially year over year (about 112,000 more miles, with roughly 521,000 miles recorded so far) and the district expects to finish the year near 950,000 miles (excluding athletics and field trips).
Geller described performance differences for electric Bluebird buses: the district has taken delivery of six Bluebird EVs that are "licensed, registered and raring to go," though some units were awaiting radios. He cautioned that extreme cold reduces range and accessory‑power availability because 12‑volt systems that power on-board electronics have struggled in very low temperatures. "One fix we're looking into with Bluebird is putting a bank of 12‑volt batteries in rather than the one battery to be responsible for all of the rest of it," he said.
On capital plans, the superintendent’s budget presentation that followed detailed a proposed May ballot bus purchase. The district intends to seek voter authorization to buy 14 buses (nine large diesel buses—one of them an upgraded coach‑style bus priced at $228,000—and five smaller gasoline buses including one wheelchair‑accessible unit), with an estimated total cost of about $2,300,000. Dr. Driffill said the purchase would be funded from the bus purchase reserve and that the current transportation aid rate would reimburse approximately 74% of eligible costs.
Board members discussed rental and charter costs while weighing the potential savings of owning a coach‑style bus for out‑of‑district trips and weekend uses. The board did not vote on the purchase at the Feb. 10 meeting; Dr. Driffill said the proposition will be included for voter consideration on the May ballot.
Ending: The transportation update concluded with board members asking follow-up questions about EV performance, routing changes from the new facility and community traffic impacts; Geller said local signal timing changes and the facility’s multiple entrances have helped reduce congestion at peak times.
