New York school bus drivers live under two state systems on top of federal ELDT: NYSED's training rules (3-hour pre-service, 30-hour Basic Course, refreshers) and DMV's Article 19-A qualification file. ELDT365 handles the federal theory for $20 per course; your School Bus Driver Instructor handles the rest.
Required by 8 NYCRR 156.3 before a driver transports students. Delivered by an SBDI at the district, contractor or BOCES.
At least 2 hours on transporting students with disabilities. Delivered by NYSED-certified SBDIs; PTSI publishes the curriculum.
Tracked by your SBDI and the 19-A certified examiner.
DMV-supervised: application, physical, road test, annual review, and the file itself. Your 19-A certified examiner owns it.
NYSED-certified School Bus Driver Instructors at districts, contractors and BOCES; 19-A certified examiners for the DMV file.
Federal theory for B, P and S, finished before the skills test and filed the same day. It slots in before the 3-hour pre-service and does not touch the 19-A file. J&S Reliance Driving School in Queens enrolls its drivers this way.
Application, physical, and the DMV road test under your 19-A certified examiner. This runs alongside everything else.
Class B, Passenger and School Bus on ELDT365. Enter just the license number, no NY prefix; the state is its own field. Filed the same day.
Required by 8 NYCRR 156.3 before the driver transports any student.
Your contractor or district files the BTW under its own registry listing. The DMV checks the registry for both records before the skills test.
At least 2 hours on special needs, with an SBDI. Then 2-hour refreshers twice a year and the annual 19-A review.
Class B, Passenger and School Bus are $20 each per driver. A driver who needs all three is $60; a Class B holder adding the two endorsements is $40. New York fleets can put a card on file and be billed as they enroll, or prepay seats on a PO with a W-9 and a quote. No minimum and no contract. The federal explainer, pricing comparison and who-this-is-for detail are on the bus driver overview.
NYSED's pre-service and 30-hour Basic Course plus the Article 19-A file satisfies New York. It does not satisfy FMCSA. A driver getting a Class B, Passenger or School Bus endorsement for the first time since February 7, 2022 also needs a federal ELDT record from a provider on the Training Provider Registry before the NY skills test. The two records live in two different systems: the state training with NYSED and the DMV (Article 19-A), the ELDT with FMCSA.
NYSED-certified School Bus Driver Instructors (SBDIs) at your district, contractor or BOCES. Article 19-A is administered through DMV-certified examiners.
Two 2-hour refreshers per year under NYSED rules, plus the 10-hour advanced course on the state schedule, plus the annual 19-A review. ELDT has no refresher.
Just the number, no prefix, no spaces. The state is its own field on the FMCSA record. The registry displays it as US-NY-followed by the number; that is the registry combining the two fields, not something you type.
No. The Basic Course is a NYSED requirement documented with your SBDI. ELDT is a federal record on the FMCSA registry. Drivers need both.
Moves to us: the federal theory for Class B, Passenger and School Bus, and the FMCSA filing. Stays with you: NYSED's pre-service and 30-hour Basic Course plus the Article 19-A file, behind-the-wheel, the physical, drug testing and background checks. Nothing about your New York certificate changes.
Free school account, $20 per course per driver, filed to the FMCSA registry the same day. NYSED's pre-service and 30-hour Basic Course plus the Article 19-A file stays exactly where it is.
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