THUNDER BAY — All's going pretty well so far for the school board consortium that coordinates busing for elementary and high school students in the Thunder Bay area.
Craig Murphy, manager of Student Transportation Services of Thunder Bay (STSTB), said late Wednesday morning "It's been a good start" as pupils returned to class for the new school year.
He noted there are 154 routes, and that a few glitches can be expected on the first day.
"The routes are still relatively new to the drivers. They have been out practising them, but when you get out there on the first day, maintaining times and meeting up with students at their stops, sometimes we see some delays. It's not unexpected."
The STSTB website showed a number of relatively minor delays earlier in the morning.
Murphy said the two companies the consortium has contracts with had a full complement of drivers for opening day.
However, on seven of the routes there is no permanent driver assigned yet.
"They have sufficient spare drivers available to cover those routes while they continue to hire and train new drivers," he said.
Murphy said STSTB started to feel the impact of a Canada-wide shortage of bus drivers in 2020, when the number of cancelled bus runs started to climb.
But he believes the trend is moving in the right direction.
"When we look back at the statistics for cancellations over the past five years, we are seeing a steady improvement each year. We fully anticipate that trend to continue this year."
Murphy said the consortium is continuing to monitor the situation closely.
Iron Range Bus Lines and First Student Canada both advertise career opportunities for drivers.
STSTB has previously advised parents to prepare a backup plan for getting their children to school in the event their bus run is unexpectedly cancelled for whatever reason.
