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HB NEWS ‘CAN'T WAIT OUTSIDE THAT LONG’ HALTON SCHOOL BUS DRIVER SHORTAGE CAUSING DELAYS REETI ROHILLA rrohilla@metroland.com School bus delays have been an ongoing challenge for numerous families in Halton Hills and across the region since the start of the school year. A wide-reaching labour short- age has found its way to Halton's school bus services — causing de- lays on a number of routes — said Halton Student Transportation Services (HSTS) general manager David Colley. Halton Hills resident Pratik Ba- baria said working around the de- family's daily routine. over two months, they haven't had ad enough drivers andthe bus keeps. setting | late by 40 to as minutes," said aria. "We can’ wait outside that: ane especially i tn the cold." Colley said that while some routes have seen occasional delays of up | to 45 minutes, the average has been around 10 min- ‘ing nearly 31,000 students. per day, HSTS isa non-profit trans- (cbse) aodents since 2008. The company contracts a total of 476 bus routes to five companies per cent substitute drivers for opti- mal operation. With a high percentage of school bus drivers over the age of 60—an age demographic known to bemore vulnerable to COVID-19 — companies saw countless absences “We curren need more than 30 drivers," said Colley. "Every bus route has a permanent driver and ifthe driver leaves the industry, the position for that route will be open.” Colley said the organization ap- points multiple drivers — often up three individuals — to cover each open route with minimum de- While close to three dozen routes have been affected by the driver shortage, Burlington resi- dents like Amit Kumar said they're fortunate not to have been impact- cose chair Marvin Duarte and HDSB chair 0 Shuttle- worth said the school oards staff have implemented a pumber of strategies to recruit retain drivers. This includes ‘joint news releases, to families, school we features and social media oon add addition to the challenges we face because of the driver short- age, buses can be late due to a vari- ety ofreasons, including traffic, eal lays at schools, the occasional me- Owned & Operated By FirstCanada ULC Reet Many students, including Ansh Babaria, have been dealing with ongoing wait times for their school bus. chanical breakdown and driver ab- sences due to illness, etc.," said Duarte. In the budgets approved for the 2022-23 school year, the HCDSB set aside approximately $10.7M and. the ED SB s spent around $20.3M for HSTS. om Halton school bus driver 0} of ars, Maureen Winata is one anyone Tooking for part, time work to consider becoming a school bus driver. To work as a school bus driver, an applicant must have a clean driving record and be at least 21 years of age to qualify for a class B licence. "The school bus is not as scary as it looks — a's about the mind- set," said Wi ‘I was intimidat- ed by the size ees ‘the school bus be- fore. On my first day of training, I was scared that I would get fired ... “We remain hopeful that in time the . . ye " situation will improve. - HDSB chair Margo Shuttleworth but once you get the training, it's not scary at Working four to five hours a day split between mornings and after- noons, Winata appreciates the op- portunity to bring her children on the bust instead of leaving them at tha have peace of mind knowing that I have my kids with me andit's good to show them what mommy does. 1 think J set a good example for my kids that you can do things and include your vamaily without ti M. Foil Meola leaving them alone," she said. As bus companies continue to train and recruit, Colley said they now have more drivers available as compared to the first week of the school year. "We remain hopeful that in time the situation will improve," said Shuttleworth, yyone looking to work as a schoo! bus driver can contact one of the five companies contracted by HSTS, including Attridge Trans- portation, First Student, Elliott Coach Lines, Switzer-Carty Trans- portation and Voyago Transporta- STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With Halton seeing an ongoing bus driver shortage, we wanted to explore how this is impacting local families and what's being done to res: Edgewater SENIOR LIVING HOLIDAY * BAZAAR CLOTHING *®CRAFTS #FOO AND MORE! Join us for our Holiday Bazaar! Thursday December 15th from 10am - 3pm Located at: 111 John Street, Georgetown, ON pak & & i INH UONEH - dil CUL | 2 Zz0z ‘8 4equeoeg ‘Aepsinyy | eordyouy