Into the second week of school, Students in Renfrew County are continuing to navigate the challenge of no bus transportation.
The lack of transportation is due to a contract negotiation standstill with the Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium (RCJCT).
The RCJTC, a non-profit organization that coordinates school bus transportation for Renfrew Country stated in a news release that “school bus companies are asking for multi-year contracts at substantially higher rates than what RCJTC, which is funded through the school boards and the Ministry of Education, can provide.”
Representation for school bus companies say that the 12% pay increase offered fell ‘woefully short’ of the 30-70% increase in costs to operate.
MooseFM spoke with Renfrew County bus driver Heather Faraday, who noted that the size and terrain of Renfrew County can create even more cost for bus companies, whose buses are often travelling longer distances, on bumpier roads, than in other school boards.
Renfrew county is the largest county in the province, covering over 7500 square kilometres.
Heather demonstrated the issue when she spoke about meeting a bus driver from another county while at her husbands medical appointment.
“She said ‘I drive for the Ottawa board–how many kilometres do you drive a day?’ and i said, ‘about 300’ she said, ‘wow how much do you get paid?’ and i said ‘I make about $1600 a month she’s like ‘Oh my god you’re so underpaid! I do about 125 kilometres a day and i get 2 grand a month.”
Heather went on to say that she has received overwhelming support from the families of the students on her bus route along with offers to help.
“Around here they appreciate the drivers. All the kids that I drive, all the parents support me. They said what can we do to help? I say call the board.”
Heather said she worries if the situation continues much longer, it could affect bus driver availability.
“I think the problem is going to be the longer it drags out, some of us are going to have to go find other jobs. The consequence from all this might end up being there may not even be drivers to drive buses.”
Updates and more information on bus service and contract negotiations can be found on the RCJTC and Renfrew school board websites.
