A school bus shortage that's left thousands of students stranded looks no closer to being resolved and now at least one of the city's school boards says third-party companies are to blame.

Since Tuesday, more than 2,000 students across Toronto haven't been picked up on time, if at all, making back-to-school season anxiety-inducing not only for school kids but also for parents looking for solutions.

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is pointing the finger at third-party companies, saying they haven't been transparent about a lack of drivers.

The affected routes were contracted out to three different companies: Attridge Transportation, Wheelchair Accessible Transit and Sharp Bus Lines. The companies bid for the routes, which the school boards say they assumed would be covered. All three declined to comment to CBC News on how they're trying to fix the situation.

The TDSB and the Toronto Catholic District School Board say they have been on conference calls with the three companies to try to cover the routes.

Melanie Lanno is just one of hundreds of parents who put their morning routines on hold, to carpool her kids to school.

"These poor kids are going to a new school out of their own home area and as if that's not enough then the bus doesn't show up to pick them up!"

It's a problem working mom Silvina Rocca found herself facing on her daughter's first day too.

"The school bus was supposed to pick my daughter up at 8:00 but it was 8:15 and it didn't show up. And she was just freaking out, 'I'm going to miss school!' so I just came and dropped her off."

The TDSB told CBC News it heard concerns from the companies last week that they might be low on drivers, but that the shortage was nowhere near crisis level. It wasn't until the first day of school when kids were left at their stops that they knew there was a problem, Toronto District School Board spokesman Ryan Bird told CBC News.

The school board is enlisting drivers from other companies to help and has even paid for taxis to cover some of the stops. The Catholic school board, meanwhile, plans to look into how to rectify the problem next week and is working on a contingency plan with other carriers that might have extra room to pick up the slack.

Debbie Montgomery is the president of the union that represents 1,200 school bus drivers, mainly in Ontario. She says the whole system is flawed and that the $65-a-day wage isn't enough to keep drivers around.

"It's getting harder and harder to attract people to this industry, because of the wage, the split shifts," Montgomery said.

But Montgomery says the solution to the shortage involves more than just getting wheels on the pavement.

"I'm worried about people looking for a quick fix… There is a lot of training that goes into this job. It's a very safety-conscious job so I wouldn't want to see that slip either."

The school board websites will have the latest information on routes Friday morning.