Toronto school boards flag potential school bus driver shortage 1 week before classes begin

Toronto school boards are warning that 21 of their school-bus routes are without permanent drivers just a week before students are to go back to class.  

The Toronto Student Transportation Group — a joint initiative between the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board — made the announcement Monday afternoon.

The boards say that two of their school bus carriers, Sharp Bus Lines and Stock Transportation, have notified them of driver shortages.

Kevin Hodgkinson, general manager of the Toronto Student Transportation Group, told CBC Toronto the companies could use drivers from their spare complement to staff those routes but if they do so, "they would have no contingency for daily absences.

"We appreciate that they told us that they are going to go out and get additional resources from outside of Toronto to make sure that they are able to deliver and have a driver in the seat every day and maintain spare drivers for sick calls," said Hodgkinson.

'Nothing like last year'

This development comes after a statement by the Student Transportation Group earlier this month stated that "all operators have communicated that they have sufficient resources as of August 11."

The group says there are several contingency plans in place to resolve the issue before the start of school, including moving some of the affected routes to carriers with a sufficient number of drivers if necessary.

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Last year, a driver shortage affected thousands of students across 60 routes, causing major delays in the city. 

Hodgkinson says the boards have implemented changes, including earlier planning time and better contingency plans after last year's problems.

He says everyone should plan for delays that normally come with the start of the school year as parents try to get to know new drivers, but it will be "nothing like last year.

"We fully expect that we will have a driver in every seat this year and that service will be delivered with relatively normal standards," he added.