Eight school bus routes for both public and catholic schools in Waterloo Region are cancelled this week.
It’s part of an ongoing rotation of cancellations announced on Friday, as the Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region deals with a lack of drivers. Bus routes will be cancelled on a week-to-week basis.
Forest Hill Public School is one of the schools impacted by the bus route cancellations. Luke Reimer picked up his daughter after school on Monday. He said the route change has forced him and his wife to scramble to figure out who can drop off and pick their daughter up each day.
“It really disrupts your afternoon. We got really short notice, we found out on Friday that Monday we’re going to need to drive our kid to and from school,” Reimer said. “So it’s tough on her, it’s tough on us.”
Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region is planning to review the cancellations in December, and will decide if more cancellations are needed at that time.
“It’s too long right? Now you add in winter driving into the mix. It’s only going to get more disruptive, it’s only going to take longer. Parking, logistics, it’s just really challenging for sure,” Reimer said.
LOW WAGES PART OF THE PROBLEM
Experts in the industry say the main issue for bus drivers in Ontario is wages.
“We've been trying to tell the province for a very long time that the contracts need to be changed, the driver pay needs to be changed, there's a whole host of things that are contributing to this," Nancy Daigneault, the executive director of School Bus Ontario said.
According to Daigneault, the business attracts a lot of retirees, because it is a part-time split-shift job, but since the pandemic, many have chosen not to return out of fear for their health
“A lot of them just decided to retire completely. So now we’re having to bring in a whole host of new drivers and train them,” Daigneault said.
Along with getting a special driver’s license, school bus operators must also complete other health and safety training programs throughout the year.
“So, it’s not something that you go out and you get your B license, and you say ‘I’m going to drive a school bus,’ it’s an ongoing training. It’s the responsibility,” Dianne Blower, a school bus driver in Barrie said.
Dianne Blower has been driving school buses for 12 years. She said although school bus drivers work part-time hours, the position requires them to be available for the day and with a lack of benefits many drivers are leaving for higher-paying professions.
“The point is I’m not doing this for this anymore. Either you make it worth my while and stop saying it’s a part-time job,” Blower said.
“I would sketch we would feel more comfortable if we thought we were worth more,” David Pierce, a school bus driver in Chatham-Kent said.
David Pierce said he is often treated like a nuisance on the roads. He feels a pay raise would help bus operators as they put up with angry drivers while also keeping kids safe.
“Anything that would help us, just say we appreciate you,” Pierce said.
“In this region, the hourly wages have increased by nearly 50 per cent over the last five years,” Benoit Bourgault, the General Manager of Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region said in an email. “Total income is a challenge and will remain a challenge because of the nature of the work drivers work only 187 days of the year and limited hours per day.”
TRANSPORTATION SERVICE REPLIES
“While school boards are entirely responsible for student transportation, we have increased investment to the highest level in Ontario history and extended the Driver Retention Program that provides wage enhancements to school bus drivers, to ensure reliable and safe transportation for families,” Grace Lee with the Ministry of Education said in an email.
Blower wants to see the province consolidate all school bus contracts, to try and make it even for all drivers in the province. If nothing changes, she expects the lack of drivers only to get worse as workers continue to age and retire from the profession.
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