One operations contact who knows your students.
For special education directors, transportation coordinators, and business managers. AVRA runs 7D routes for 31 districts and collaboratives from our Quincy yard. Each one has a single operations manager who answers the phone, knows the roster, and signs off on every route change.
How a new contract starts
Business days from the first call to the first ride. Faster when the roster is small or the route already exists.
- You send the requestStudent count, schools, towns, IEP transportation pages, and the start date you need. Phone, email, or the form on this site.
- Site call with your operations managerWe confirm pickup addresses, bell times, equipment, monitors, and anything the IEP requires. Thirty minutes, by phone or at your office.
- Route plan and pricingA route sheet with pickup and drop-off times for each student, ride lengths, staffing, and a price per route or per student. You approve or mark changes.
- Driver and monitor assigned, families introducedEach family gets a call from dispatch and meets the driver and monitor before the first ride. Vehicles and equipment are set up for the roster.
- First rideYour office gets the rider list that morning, and an on-time report at the end of the first week.
What you get on day one
Included in every contract, whether it is one route or thirty.
- Daily rider list by email
Sent to the school office and the district transportation office before the first pickup, with any absences or changes marked.
- Dispatcher direct line
One number that reaches a person from 5:30 AM to 6:30 PM on school days. No phone tree, no voicemail during route hours.
- GPS access for your office
Read-only login to see your district's vans on the map, live, plus route history for any day in the school year.
- Monthly on-time report
Arrival times against the bell schedule for every route, with any late run explained. Last school year: 98.4% within five minutes.
- Incident reporting within 24 hours
Any behavioral, medical, or vehicle incident is written up and sent to your office by the next school day, with the camera footage held for review.
- Invoices that match the bid
Billed monthly, line by line, in the same per-route or per-student format as the contract, so the business office does not have to translate.
Bid and compliance documents on file
Everything a bid package or a DESE review asks for. Sent the same business day you ask.
| Document | How often updated | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of insurance, $5M auto liability | Annually, and on any policy change | Emailed on request; district named as certificate holder |
| 7D driver certificates | At hire, then at each RMV renewal | Roster of drivers on your routes with certificate numbers and expiration dates |
| CORI and SORI results | At hire and every year after | Confirmation of clearance by driver; full results shared per CORI regulations |
| RMV 7D inspection reports | Twice a year per vehicle | Report for each van assigned to your routes |
| DOT physicals | Every two years, or annually where required | Confirmation of current status by driver |
| Drug and alcohol testing program | Pre-employment, random, and post-incident | Program summary and confirmation of participation by driver |
| W-9 | Annually | Emailed on request |
| DESE transportation contract addendum | Per contract | Signed and returned with the contract |
Mid-year changes
Rosters change. A contract with AVRA does not need to be reopened when they do.
Tell your operations manager what changed and when it takes effect. Changes within an existing route's area are made at no extra charge. A student who needs a new route is priced from the rate in your contract, with no rebid.
- New student adds. Placed on an existing route where the ride limit allows, or on a new route within five business days.
- Placement changes. Route redrawn to the new program, family and staff notified before the first ride there.
- Address changes. Pickup point updated within the week. Same driver and monitor stay on the route.
- McKinney-Vento moves. Route running within two school days of the request; adjusted again as the family's housing changes.
- ESY. Summer routes set up in May on the same route with the same staff wherever possible.
Questions district offices ask
Do we have to rebid when a student is added mid-year?
No. Adds within an existing route's area are at no extra charge. A new route is priced from the rate already in your contract. Districts that expect frequent adds usually put a managed-service daily rate in the contract alongside the contracted routes, so nothing needs to be reopened.
Is there a minimum number of routes?
No. Several of the 31 districts we serve have a single route with us. Contracted routes carry a one-school-year term. Managed service has no minimum and no term.
Do you subcontract any routes?
Never. Every route is driven by an AVRA employee in an AVRA van from the Quincy yard. If we cannot cover a route with our own 58 drivers and 42 vans, we tell you before we take it.
What happens when a driver is out?
A backup driver who has already been introduced to the students and families takes the route. Dispatch calls the school and the families before the first pickup to say who is driving. If a wheelchair van is out of service, a spare lift van leaves the yard the same morning.
Request a quote
Send the student count, the schools, and the start date. An operations manager replies within one business day, usually the same afternoon.