School buses are back on the roads as students return to class

Students across Simcoe County waited anxiously Tuesday morning for the bus ride to school for the first day of a new academic year.

Bill Hamilton has been a school bus driver in Simcoe County for 10 years and says he looks forward to this day every year.

"Happy to see the kids back on the bus, lots of smiles this morning, and they're excited to be back," says Hamilton.

The school bus driver says he's relieved to have a sense of normalcy back in his job after two uncertain pandemic years.

"It's good to get back into the routine. I hear that field trips and sports will be back on, so that will be great for the kids and great for us, keeps us working," says Hamilton.

It was a busy summer for the Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium (SCSTC), ensuring the 700 bus routes were set for over 150 public and Catholic schools.

"In Simcoe County this year, we are transporting around 38,000 students on about 700 vehicles. Currently, we are not anticipating a driver shortage in Simcoe County, and we do keep working with our local operators to monitor route coverage," says SCSTC CEO Kim Malkamaki.

Planning this year went smoothly, and Malkamaki says they have enough drivers for every route and several spare drivers to assist with absences. With COVID-19 restrictions removed, assigned seating on school buses is a thing of the past.

Simcoe County bus drivers travel a collective 65,000 kilometres per day. Hamilton says the biggest challenge is ensuring that the kids make it on and off the bus safely.

"We really need the drivers to respect when they see the red light to come to a complete stop when the kids are getting off," says Hamilton.

New this year is the amber light system. When approaching a school bus with the amber lights flashing, drivers should slow down and prepare to stop.