THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay’s school transportation consortium has announced the cancellation of 12 bus routes, leaving affected parents with just days to make other plans to get their children to school.
A message posted to the Student Transportation Services of Thunder Bay Facebook page around 4:45 p.m. Friday cited a shortage of drivers as the explanation for the change, attributing the problem to COVID-19.
“Our contracted school bus operators are reporting a severe driver shortage as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and will not be able to service [12] routes until further notice.”
The organization, which coordinates transportation for all three of Thunder Bay’s school boards, apologized for the inconvenience in the post, stating it is working with contracted operators Iron Range and First Student “to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”
According to the post, affected routes include:
- South 20 - OGDN A.M. & P.M. / MKEL A.M. & P.M. / WEST A.M. CANCELLED **WEST NOON ROUTE RUNNING**
- South 46 - STPA A.M. / PJP2 A.M. & P.M. / STMT A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED
- South 53 - STPA A.M. / PJP2 A.M. / STJU A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED **STPA NOON ROUTE RUNNING**
- South 63 - STPA A.M. / PJP2 A.M. / STMT A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED **STPA NOON ROUTE RUNNING**
- South 69 - STPA A.M. / PJP2 A.M. / STVI A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED **STPA NOON ROUTE RUNNING**
- South 93 - WHIT A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED (High School Students who ride the A.M. bus and transfer at WHITEFISH can catch their transfer bus at WHITEFISH) **WEST NOON ROUTE RUNNING**
- North 10 - GRON A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED **HAMM/SUPE AM RUNNING** **IB SHUTTLE SUPE TO WEST NOON ROUTE RUNNING**
- North 14 - STJA A.M. & P.M. / VANC A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED **HAMM/SUPE NOON ROUTE RUNNING**
- North 34 - BEQJ A.M. & P.M. / CCHR A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED
- North 35 - BEQJ A.M. & P.M. / CCHR A.M. CANCELLED **HAMM/SUPE NOON ROUTE RUNNING**
- North 41 - BGAL A.M. & P.M. / HCRS A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED
- North 95 - FIVE A.M. & P.M. CANCELLED (High School Students who ride the A.M. bus and transfer at FIVE MILE can catch their transfer bus at FIVE)
