Students will return to school next week, but a group of students from the GTA may find themselves spending three hours daily on the bus, even though their school is just a 25-minute drive away.
Myrna Simpson, whose children go to Pickering High School, says the new bus route operated by Durham Student Transportation Services (DSTS) will now take almost 90 minutes each way, which means her kids will spend nearly three hours commuting every day.
“When I first saw the bus schedule, I was really surprised because it’s double what it was last year, and the time is quite excessive,” Simpson tells City News. “An hour and a half on the bus is tough; it can be really hot or cold, it’s noisy, there are no seat belts, and the seats are uncomfortable – 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, studies, and extracurricular activities.
<p“I'm working downtown and his trip across Ajax-a fairly small town-is longer than mine using GO Train and TTC. I just couldn’t believe how long this was going to take,” he said.
Scouller mentioned that when another parent reached out to DSTS for answers, they were told that there isn’t likely to be any change.
“They said there’s nothing we could do. The time is set in stone,” Blanca explained, adding that they were told it’s due to a shortage of school bus drivers.
Ajax MPP Rob Cerjanec points out provincial underfunding as a main issue.
“Honestly, it’s not fair, and the province could do much more regarding funding because school bus drivers earn just over $20 an hour. That’s not very much; recruiting and keeping those individuals is tough,” he said.
An advocacy group called School Bus Ontario echoed those statements 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 keep new drivers in this field.”
City News has reached out to the province for comments 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 into ways to lessen ride times.
Local trustee Donna Edwards says she is actively trying to resolve this matter.
DSTS states on its website that their team will try hard to ensure that bus rides don’t exceed 60 minutes each way; however, this doesn’t take traffic or construction into account.
A row of school buses is seen in this undated photo. CITYNEWS Keep it Factual
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