Chronic shortage of school bus drivers wreaking havoc with routes in Sudbury
Thirteen more school bus routes were cancelled in the Sudbury area Monday morning, with more expected by Tuesday.
It’s another headache for parents, students and officials in Sudbury.
“It’s actually worse than I was expecting,” said Renee Boucher, with the Sudbury Student Services Consortium.
Boucher said obstacles, cancelations and juggling was expected before classes returned in September, but the last two months proved to be even more challenging than she imagined.
“We had enough drivers to cover every route in September and the replacement drivers, that’s what was lacking. We didn’t have many replacement drivers. At this point, we don’t even have enough drivers to cover all routes,” she said.
“The consortium has removed three routes altogether, tried to remove stops from one run and amalgamated it on other runs, so we were able to do that but even with three (fewer) routes, we’re still not covering every one of our routes.”
The Sudbury Student Services Consortium is responsible for bus services for the four school boards in Sudbury. On Monday, four routes were cancelled due to COVID-19 exposure and another nine were cancelled due to driver shortages.
“Just this morning … one particular company called and said we need to cancel another seven school buses,” said Boucher. “We’re losing drivers each and every day as we’re going ahead, unfortunately.”
Automated phone calls are expected to go out Monday afternoon alerting parents of even more cancelations this week. Officials said that although COVID-19 is a factor, it definitely isn’t the biggest problem the consortium is facing.
“The most common reason is because of full-time employment elsewhere,” said Boucher. “So right now everyone in Sudbury, everyone is looking for employees. So if you just look around, everyone is asking for full-time employees so our drivers are seeing that as well and deciding that full-time employment is better for them.”
Boucher said they had six people in training last week, but this week are down to three.
"So some of them decided to do something else. Some of them decided to go for full-time employment.”
Boucher said in a perfect world, 25 new drivers are needed to get through this school year in Sudbury alone. But she said there are a lot of incentives for people who might be interested in getting behind the wheel.
“I know that the Ministry of Education also, it’s been a couple of years now, they are providing a driver retention program,” she said. “So every semester, if a driver stays for a full semester, the driver can receive $1,000 at the end of that semester so there’s a potential of $2,000 over and above what a driver would regularly do.”
Leuschen Transportation employees can also receive a pay bonus if they refer a new driver who stays with the company for at least four months.
Boucher said that steps are also being taken to improve technology and make the job easier for drivers.
“This year the consortium, we’ve provided tablets for all of our school buses," she said. "So our drivers have a tablet on a round mount and they can see the stops, they can see the students and that’s to help them out so that they don’t have the route sheets on paper in front of them."
Boucher said the consortium is also looking into a student counter to track how many students are taking the bus on a regular basis. She said this will help the consortium adjust routes in the future so that kids who take it regularly can be put on a non-cancelled route.
Impacted routes are regularly listed on the Sudbury Student Services Consortium Facebook page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Shivering for health: The myths and truths of ice baths explained
In a climate of social media-endorsed wellness rituals, plunging into cold water has promised to aid muscle recovery, enhance mental health and support immune system function. But the evidence of such benefits sits on thin ice, according to researchers.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Manitoba mom praises quick-thinking fire department for freeing daughter stuck in playground equipment
A Manitoba mother is praising firefighters for their quick work in helping her daughter who got stuck at a playground in Lorette, Man.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.