By Kelly Burgess,
Bruce Peninsula Press
If I told you about a job where you can make up to $40 an hour, work part-time Monday to Friday, have summers and holidays off, and qualify for bonuses, would you be interested in applying? You also get to work in a safe, friendly and joyful environment filled with smiling faces and excitement. If you said yes to any or all of these perks and are looking for a rewarding job consider becoming a school bus driver for Grey Bruce.
Sadly, for many areas in Ontario including Grey-Bruce the wheels on the bus are not going round and round all through the town. Bus cancellations are a daily issue for this area due to a shortage of bus drivers. “It’s ok to use the word desperate in this situation,” said Steve Lustig, General Manager of Transportation and Purchasing of the Student Transportation Consortium of Grey Bruce.
Lustig explained that the shortage of bus drivers has been going on for several years and not just due to Covid protocols. “The shortages have been across Ontario for years and Grey Bruce is not immune to that. Covid impacts everything to some extent but this has been an ongoing issue”. Unfortunately, this profession seems to have a higher-than-average amount of turnover which also contributes to this problem.
Action Being Taken
In a perfect world, there would be an abundance of school bus drivers in order to alleviate this problem. Even with signing and yearly bonuses for attendance being offered, this profession is still struggling to recruit drivers.
In the meantime, Lustig and staff are working on getting as many students to school on the bus as possible. They are actively looking to consolidate 7 routes that have some room for more riders. “This will lead to longer ride times for students but this way we can maximize the utilization of the bus,” emphasized Lustig. This action will enable more students to have the option of getting to school by bus and alleviate the burden on parents.
Breanna Heels, Vice Principal of Bruce Peninsula District School in Lion’s Head, says they have not had any buses cancelled due to the shortage so it hasn’t affected attendance. She did add, “However the routes are very long, and we had buses arriving late, and kids on the bus for almost 2 hours. I think they have been working on streamlining this and making routes more efficient so busing has got better over the last week or so.”
Notification of Cancellations
While Student Transportation is working hard to keep cancellations to a minimum and report them in advance, if a driver calls in sick in the morning, there can be morning cancellations.
Parents are encouraged to check for cancellations in the morning. Areas such as Owen Sound, Dundalk and Mildmay have been affected daily whereas Northern Bruce seems to just have the issue of longer routes.
Updates can be found at https://mybrucegreyschoolbus.ca/Alerts. Parents can also subscribe to a specific route to receive an email or text if that route is delayed or cancelled so they don’t have to continually check the website.
Be a Part of the Solution
As a school bus driver, you can make a positive impact on the lives of young children and teens. If you are 21 years and older and have your G licence and meet all of the qualifications you can get training to prepare for your B licence. “You can be trained in a couple of weeks,” Lustig verified.
For more information on how to get into this rewarding career, be part of the solution and serve your community contact the Student Transportation Service Consortium of Grey Bruce at (519) 364-5820 or visit their website at https://www.brucegreyschoolbus.ca/home.
