The wheels on the bus will be going round and round in a little more than a week, as the new school year rapidly approaches.
With only 10 days until the first bell rings to kick off the 2022-23 school year, the question of transportation is often top of mind for many parents who depend on the big yellow school bus to get their children to and from school.
Leading up to the 2021-22 school year, a province-wide driver shortage was a cause for concern, however that won’t be the case in Simcoe County this fall, according to Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium (SCSTC) chief executive officer and general manager Kim Malkamaki.
“Through our annual planning process, we have confirmed with our school vehicle operators that they have drivers assigned to every route and there are a number of spare drivers to assist in the event of driver absences," she said. "At this time in Simcoe County, we are not anticipating a driver shortage.
“We have been pretty fortunate to not be as hard hit by the provincial driver shortage issue that other consortiums felt last year. It will be nice to start the school year with all drivers assigned to routes," Malkamaki added.
Tara Deschamps, who is the operations supervisor for Landmark Bus Lines Barrie Branch, says drivers are all set to get back on the road Sept. 6.
“We are just excited to get back into it,” said Deschamps, adding one way they work to avoid driver shortages is simply to never stop training new drivers. “We never stop hiring and we are always looking for new faces for drivers to join our team.
Malkamaki said the SCSTC will continue to work with all of the operators — which includes Landmark Bus Lines for Barrie, Alliston, Collingwood and Wasaga Beach, and Sharp Bus Lines in Bradford, Midland and Orillia — to monitor route coverage.
The SCSTC transports 38,000 students on 700 routes for both the public and Catholic school boards, she noted. As has been the case over the last two years, Malkamaki also says the SCSTC will follow all health and safety measures outlined by the Ministry of Education in terms of COVID-19 protocols.
Malkamaki wants to remind other motorists to be more aware while out on the road when school starts.
“Just be extra cautious in school zones and school areas,” she said.
New last year, families and students were able to receive delay notification to their devices by downloading the BusPlanner Delays App from the Apple or Android app stores. Users should select Simcoe County STC as the transportation authority and use their student’s school and route number to sign up to receive delay notifications for their specific bus(es). Bus delay notifications are also communicated through the SCSTC website, which can be found by clicking here.
