Delays for Calgary yellow school buses crop up during first month of school

Calgary's largest school bus operator says 35 of its roughly 600 routes do not have a permanent driver, and that's causing delays for some bus routes in the city.

Those delays range from 10 minutes all the way up to 180 minutes on rare occasions, said Southland Transportation regional director Arjan Slagmolen.

"So we try to cover those unassigned routes as close to on time as we can," he said.

"However, obviously when we run out of those options there are routes that have to be covered by a driver that does their regular route and then does an additional route. And that's where the delay comes in." 

Every school day, Calgary parent Steven Du checks to see if his daughter's bus will arrive on time — or if it's delayed, sometimes by hours.

Both he and his wife work full time and rely on the yellow school bus to drive their daughter to school.

But so far this year, her route has experienced several delays, and he's been forced to drive his daughter to Westmount Charter Mid-High School, making him late for work.

"We cannot provide a ride every day for our girl, so it's a big issue for our family," he said.

Slagmolen said the company is working to solve the issue.

"We continue a very aggressive recruiting campaign we bring people in every single week," he said.

He said despite provincial incentives and ramped up hiring the driver shortage impacting much of Canada is still being felt locally.

Calgary Board of Education spokesperson Joanne Anderson said the board has more than 22,000 students registered for transportation — 15,000 of them with Southland Transportation — and about 540 bus routes contracted to five companies. 

Currently, about eight routes are without a regularly assigned driver, Anderson said.

"As a result, there is an increased chance of delays. These routes still run and delays are posted for families. The number of unassigned routes continues to fluctuate as drivers leave positions and new ones are trained," she said.

"We anticipate the ongoing school bus driver shortage being experienced across the province will continue to impact the transportation service provided to CBE families during the school year."

The Calgary Catholic School District said roughly 1,400 of its students rely on Southland Transportation for bus service. 

Spokesperson Joanna French said while the province-wide driver shortage continues to have an impact, the situation is improving.

"The new bus driver grant, announced by the provincial government in late July, has created positive momentum in recruitment and retention," she said.

Both school boards said it's important for parents to have a backup plan for late or cancelled buses.