THUNDER BAY — The consortium that co-ordinates school busing in the Thunder Bay area has found room on other buses for most of the students affected by a shortage of bus drivers when classes resumed last week.
Student Transportation Services of Thunder Bay announced the cancellation of a dozen routes just days before school began, forcing families to make alternate arrangements on short notice.
Now, however, STSTB is reassigning students on 10 of those routes to other bus routes that serve the same schools.
In a public announcement, the consortium says it's able to make the change while still maintaining the Thunder Bay District Health Unit's recommendations on school bus seating capacity.
Effective Wednesday, Sept. 16, bus transportation will once again be available for students who were booked on the following suspended routes:
N10 GRON MORGAN - AM & PM
N14 ST JAMES / VANCE CHAPMAN - AM & PM
N34 BISHOP EQ JENNINGS / CORPUS CHRISTI - AM & PM
N35 BISHOP EQ JENNINGS - AM & PM / CORPUS CHRISTI - AM
N41 BISHOP GALLAGHER / HOLY CROSS - AM & PM
N95 FIVE MILE - AM & PM
S46 ST PATRICK - AM / POPE JOHN PAUL II - AM & PM / ST MARTIN - AM & PM
S53 ST PATRICK & POPE JOHN PAUL II - AM / ST JUDE - AM & PM
S63 ST PATRICK & POPE JOHN PAUL II - AM / ST MARTIN - AM & PM
S69 ST PATRICK & POPE JOHN PAUL II - AM / ST VINCENT - AM & PM
STSTB says parents with children originally assigned to the above routes should log into the parent portal at www.ststb.ca for their new bus assignments, stop locations and times.
"While these solutions may not be ideal" the announcement states, "they are only temporary until more licensed school bus drivers can be found, or return to work."
The consortium said it is still working to find solutions for students on two other suspended routes, S220 OGDEN & MCKELLAR AM & PM, and S93 WHITEFISH AM & PM, as all other nearby routes are already at capacity.
