Bus cancellations in North Bay put parents in a tough spot

Continued bus cancellations in North Bay has some parents upset and scrambling to get their kids to school.

One route will not run until Sept. 26t at the earliest, which is causing frustration and confusion for some parents.

"For the next four weeks we have to drive our kids to school," said Marsha Taylor, who has three children attending an elementary school in North Bay.

While they are able to drive their children, Taylor said other parents aren't so lucky.

"We're lucky to be able to drive our kids to school but I know other parents are not in that spot," she said.

"So we're in a very difficult spot. We do rely on our bussing."

School Bus Ontario, an association that works with and bargains for bus operators in the province, said the cancellations are due to a number of reasons.

"The main issue right now is driver pay," said executive director Nancy Daigneault.

"School bus companies that run the buses have increased the salaries of the school bus drivers, but they can only increase it so much by the way the contracts are set up with the government and the school boards."

"So we're asking for an additional increase from the government to help us with inflation and the competitive labour marketplace," Daigneault added.

Officials from the Nipissing Parry Sound Student Transportation Consortium said it's working with the operators to come up with immediate and long-term solutions.