By Stephen Stirling
Community Leaders said a school transportation disaster for dozens of Queens students has been cleared up after one College Point bus company was able to take on the customers of another whose bus fleet was destroyed by a fire last month, but the first few weeks were rocky.
According to the company’s Web site, an intentionally set fire on Feb. 19 destroyed nearly the entire bus fleet of Bronx Science Bus Service, which is owned by Gagnon Bus Co. and is one of two private companies that provides transportation to Queens students attending the prestigious Bronx high school.
“Bronx Science Bus Service is presently unable to continue to provide service to Bronx Science due to a devastating fire at our terminal overnight on Thursday 2⁄19â„2009,” a statement on the company’s Web site reads. “Ten buses were consumed by fires set internally in each bus and the rest were damaged by close contact.”
Bronx Science Bus Service suggested using the service of Vallo Transportation, its chief competitor, for “uninterrupted service,” but according to City Councilman Tony Avella (D−Bayside), the bus company was not quite ready to handle the burden initially.
“We got calls from neighbors near the bus company’s terminal that there were parents waiting outside until like 3 in the morning trying to get their kids on these buses,” Avella said.
Community Education Council 26 member Vincent Tabone said that although Vallo Transportation was overwhelmed at first by the additional customer base, it was able to add nearly a dozen buses to its fleet and has been able to absorb most of the students affected by the fire.
Tabone also said that if the fire was indeed an arson, criminal charges should be filed.
“Obviously this case calls for a full criminal investigation by law enforcement and I trust that the DA’s office, in cooperation with the NYPD, will be able to get to the bottom of things,” Tabone said.
But details surrounding the cause of the fire remain unclear. The Queens district attorney’s office said it would not comment on what could be an ongoing investigation.
Bronx Science Bus Service’s phone line, meanwhile, has been disconnected and e−mails sent to an address on the company’s Web site generate an automated response from Tom Guida, whose position was not known.
“Since my employment with Gagnon Bus Co. Inc. has been terminated, I have been advised that I can no longer respond to e−mails sent to this address,” the e−mail said. “Those of you who have renewed for [the] 2009−2010 school year will be notified by mail how to contact Bronx Science Express Inc.”
City Councilman John Liu (D−Flushing), an alumnus of Bronx Science, said he finds it absurd that Queens students can not rely on public transportation to get them to the school in a reasonable amount of time.
“The ultimate long term solution is to provide better mass transit, specifically by way of buses, to connect Queens to the Bronx,” he said.
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e−mail at sstirling@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 138.
