The consortium that oversees bus transportation for Thunder Bay-area school boards has found that too many buses are running with a lot of empty seats.
In some cases, only one-third of the seats are occupied.
That inefficiency is now resulting in a change in policy.
Effective with the next school year, senior elementary students and high school students who require busing must register for transportation.
Student Transportation Services of Thunder Bay (STSTB) wants registration completed by April 30, 2018.
STSTB administers busing services for the Lakehead District Public School Board, the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board and Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boreales.
The consortium said in a news release Tuesday that rider counts conducted on multiple occasions this year revealed that only 30% to 40% of students in senior grades across all three school boards who are assigned to busing are actually riding on a regular basis.
The STSTB statement noted that "Holding a spot on a school bus for students who do not require it is an inefficient use of limited transportation funds and therefore a new approach will be taken to ensure busing for eligible students in these grades is only provided for those who require it."
Students entering grades 7 and 8 at a senior elementary school, and students entering any grade at one of six local high schools — and who reside more than 1.6 kilometres from their board-designated school — are eligible to request transportation.
In an interview, STSTB manager Craig Murphy said the consortium has "always known" that the number of students assigned to buses wasn't always reflected in the actual number of riders.
"This past year we decided to take a really close look at it and find some more efficiencies," he said.
According to Murphy, until now, if a student required busing at the elementary level "it was assumed that they continued to need busing once they went on to senior grades and into high school."
However, in many cases household situations change or students are able to drive themselves to school, but "no one ever thinks to call and tell us they no longer need busing," Murphy said.
After registration for busing next fall is completed, the STSTB will look into realigning routes for greater efficiency based on actual need.
Murphy said there won't necessarily be a reduction in the number of buses.
He explained that "all our buses that service the senior elementary schools in the Catholic system and the high schools in all three boards don't just service those schools. They also service elementary schools. So removing a bus from a high school because not enough students need it wouldn't eliminate the bus."
Murphy said the objective is to redeploy some of the 187 buses in ways that make the system more efficient.
The annual budget for Thunder Bay-area school bus transportation is $12.6 million.
Registration for busing can be done through the STSTB website.
