ASTORIA — A local bus company that shuttles children from their elementary school to a popular afterschool program suddenly tripled its rate in the new year — sending parents who can't afford the increase scrambling to find other options.
Astoria Express Transit picks up children each weekday from P.S. 234 and two other nearby schools and takes them to an afterschool program at Variety Boys and Girls Club a few blocks away, for years charging $40 a month for the service.
But at the start of January, the company hiked the fare to $120 a month, according to parents.
"I get it, their costs go up, they need to raise it, but [by] 200 percent?" said Jules Knight, whose son is a fourth grader at P.S. 234 and has taken the bus for the last three or four years.
"Us parents are freaking out, but we can't really do anything about it," she said. "Who can run out in the middle of the day at 2:20, pick up their child from school, walk them eight blocks and go back to work?"
For the last several years, the company had an agreement with Variety Boys and Girls Club for a route that picks up children from P.S. 234, P.S. 17 across the street and P.S. 171 a few blocks away, and takes them to the club on 21st Street and 30th Road.
Astoria Express had charged a discounted rate of $40 a month for the ride because the stops are close — within about an eight block radius of one another — and because the the Boys and Girls Club allowed the company to use its parking lot to store buses, according to club director Matthew Troy.
Parents said they were notified of the price hike via an email from the Variety Boys and Girls Club sent on Dec. 21, right before the holiday break from school, and many weren't aware of the change until classes resumed last week.
"Talk about the worst time to be doing something like this," Knight said.
In an email, Astoria Express said its contract with the club has expired, but did not answer additional questions about the change.
But the bus company told one parent in an email that it notified the afterschool program of the change in rate in early December, and that the new price is still $10 a week less than their normal rate.
The Boys and Girls Club staff said they'd been attempting to renegotiate their arrangement with Astoria Express throughout the month of December, but cut ties with the bus company after it became clear that it would not back down from the price hike.
Parents have since been asked to make their payments directly to Astoria Express instead of through the club, as they had previously.
Louise Erebara, whose nine-year-old daughter takes the bus from P.S. 234 to the afterschool program two days a week, said she never got the notification email and only found out about the price change after another parent told her last Wednesday.
Even though she opted to pay the higher fare, she says Astoria Express failed to update their bus roster list and didn't pick up her daughter last Thursday, leaving her behind at P.S. 234.
"I get a phone call from the school at 2:30 — they're like, 'Ma'am, she hasn’t been picked up," Erebara said. "Panic sets in when that happens."
While her husband was able to rush home to pick up their daughter, Erebara said she no longer wants to use the bus company. But she loves the afterschool program, which called "amazing" and affordable, and doesn't want to give it up.
The program includes arts and STEM activities, homework help and a number of sports, including swimming in the club's indoor pool, according to the club's website. There are about 30 students from P.S. 234 who attend the program, parents said. It's not immediately clear how many kids from the other schools take the bus to the club.
Erebara and other families have been trying to make alternative arrangements over the last few days, taking turns picking up the students and walking them over, though many parents work and don't have that option.
"I feel they have us over a barrel, because everybody needs these services," Erebara said.
Troy, Variety Boys and Girls Club's director, said he and his staff are working with parents to try and find a solution.
"We've been talking to our parents, talking to other bus companies, seeing if we can get a similar deal going," he said.
