Students will return to school next week, but a number of GTA students may find themselves on the bus for three hours each day, despite their school being only a 25-minute drive away.
Myrna Simpson, whose children go to Pickering High School, says the new bus route managed by Durham Student Transportation Services (DSTS) now takes almost 90 minutes each way, which means her kids could spend close to three hours commuting every day.
“When I first saw the bus schedule, I was really surprised because it’s twice as long as it was last year, and the time is just too much,” Simpson tells City News. “An hour and a half on the bus can be really hot or cold, it’s noisy, there are no seat belts, and the seats aren’t comfortable – it’s just not a good situation.”
Parents Blanca and Steve Scouller have similar worries about how this long commute will impact their son Matthew’s sleep, studying, and activities outside of school.
<p“I'm downtown for work and his ride across Ajax-a pretty small town-takes longer than mine using GO Train and TTC. I couldn’t believe how long this was going to take,” he said.
Scouller mentions that when another parent reached out to DSTS about this issue, they were informed that changes are unlikely.
“They told us there’s nothing we could do. The time is set in stone,” Blanca said, adding that they were told it was due to a shortage of school bus drivers.
Ajax MPP Rob Cerjanec highlights provincial underfunding as a key issue here.
“Honestly, it’s not fair, and the province needs to step up with more funding because school bus drivers are earning just over $20 an hour. That’s not very much; it’s tough to recruit and keep these people,” he stated.
An advocacy group called School Bus Ontario backed those comments in a statement saying in part, “There is a chronic and severe driver shortage in Ontario and across Canada. School Bus Ontario is doing everything possible to attract and retain new drivers in this field.”
City News has contacted the province for a comment but hasn’t received any response yet.
The Durham District School Board informed City News that they are still working on confirming bus routes and looking at ways to cut down ride times.
Local trustee Donna Edwards is actively trying to tackle this problem.
DSTS mentions on its website that their team will make all efforts to ensure that bus rides don’t exceed 60 minutes each way; however, this estimate doesn’t account for traffic or construction delays.
Source link
Source link
