Thousands of New York City students, many of them children with disabilities, could be left without their usual yellow school bus transportation when classes begin Thursday due to a shortage of available bus operators.

The city’s Office of Pupil Transportation has warned schools that some routes remain without assigned vendors. Randi Levine, policy director at Advocates for Children of New York, said education officials told her organization that approximately 2,000 students could still be without bus service by September 10, the first day of school.

The issue appears to be driven by a lack of available transportation companies combined with increased demand for specialized school transportation. The situation could leave families scrambling to find alternative ways to get their children to school, potentially forcing parents to miss work and raising concerns that some students could miss classes altogether.

The Department of Education says it will provide prepaid rideshare transportation to students whose bus routes are not yet covered, although officials have not specified how long those arrangements could remain in place.

Education Department spokesperson Dominique Ellison said the city expects the overwhelming majority of students to have transportation assigned by the start of school and will work directly with families whose routes remain unresolved.

NYC’s yellow-bus system transports approximately 150,000 students, with a significant portion requiring specialized transportation because of disabilities. The system has faced years of complaints involving delays, missed pickups and unreliable service.

Last year, the city’s education panel rejected a proposed five-year contract with major school-bus companies amid concerns over service quality, instead approving a shorter three-year arrangement to give the city more leverage to demand improvements.

The Adams and Mamdani administrations have both faced pressure to address the city’s chronic school transportation problems. Education officials say they are now working to expand the bus fleet and strengthen recruitment and career pipelines for drivers and other transportation workers.