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Delayed É«É«À² routes

School buses belonging to Attridge Transportation servicing certain routes to Nelson Mandela Park Public School, Sprucecourt Public School, and Market Lane Junior and Senior Public School are facing delays of 45 minutes as of 11 a.m., after previously reporting wait times of more than an hour.Ìý

A number of school bus routes were affected Tuesday morning but several have since been resolved, while a few still remain ranging between 20 to 45 minute wait times.Ìý

Some wheelchair accessible transit school buses in É«É«À² are also affected by delays Tuesday morning, ranging between 35 to 45 minute wait times.Ìý

Updates for students using school buses to É«É«À² schools can be found on the Ìý

Delayed Peel Region routes

A number of on Tuesday morning, but were resolved as of 11 a.m.

Delays ranging between 10 to an hour long were reported from bus operators servicing across the region.Ìý

Why are GTA school buses delayed on the first day of school?Ìý

TSTG General Manager KevinÌýHodgkinson says all É«É«À² bus companies “reported a driver in every seat this morning,” but the delays were in part a result of “new routines.”Ìý

“We often see delays the first few weeks of schools as drivers and parents learn new routines, so the routes are often delayed as a result,” said Hodgkinson, who explained this include issues such as parents not having their children ready when the bus arrives, taking their child’s photo before getting onto the bus and talking to the bus driver to confirm it is the correct bus.Ìý

To avoid such issues, he says parents are advised to be at their child’s bus stop five minutes prior to boarding time. He also added that bus companies did trial runs with drivers a week before, but the routes “certainly run lateÌýdue to traffic or construction or as they may still be new taking that left when it should have been a right and having to re-route.”

“Traffic and construction may also slow down the routes resulting in some delays. We didn’t see anything out of the ordinary this morning although there were a few missed assignments where companies failed to dispatch drivers in a timely manner,”ÌýHodgkinson said.Ìý

“All things that will self-correct over the next couple of weeks. We also see thousands of student changes during September, so drivers are constantly responding to changing routes which does take time before they set into a specific routine impacting the timing of the routes. There are also routes that simply may not have time to get from point A to point B and planning staff address those as they are brought to our attention,” he added.Ìý

The delays come after the Student Transportation of Peel Region to PDSB parents and guardians ahead of the school year, warning of unfinished bus assignments by the first day of classes.Ìý

“Due to bussing issues related to data discrepancies, we are experiencing a higher-than-usual volume of student bussing requests. As a result, some bussing assignments may not be finalized by the first day of school,” the notice reads, “Our transportation team is working diligently to process the backlog and ensure that every eligible student receives a bus assignment as quickly as possible.”Ìý

The É«É«À² Student Transportation GroupÌýwebsite says it has a phased-in approach for transported students in É«É«À².

“Students with special needs, students at relocated schools, and students from select other specialty schools will have access to transportation service beginning on Sept. 2. Pending driver availability, remaining students will begin service on Monday, Sept. 8,” the website reads.Ìý

Hodgkinson said when classes are dismissed, schools are careful to ensure all students are boarded on the correct bus, so it takes time to get those routines down.

“One of the reasons why we run the phased approach in September to give schools time to work with their students to create these routines and minimize delays when all buses resume next week,” he said.Ìý