Ottawa school bus authority cancels buses on 20 routes ahead of back to school

Hundreds of Ottawa English public and Catholic school students will not have a bus ride for the first day of classes next week due to a driver shortage.

The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority says 33 bus trips on 20 routes to schools across the city of Ottawa are being cancelled ahead of the start of classes on Sept. 6 as it deals with a driver shortage.

Last week, the OSTA said 27 more drivers were needed to cover all school bus routes for the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and Ottawa Catholic School Board.

On Monday, the transportation authority unveiled a list of cancelled school bus routes for the first day of school.

"Due to driver shortages, there have been multiple changes and cancellations to transportation services for OCDSB and OCSB students," the OSTA said. "OSTA continues to work with its operators and OC Transpo to find creative solutions to provide service to as many students as possible."

Some Grade 7 to 12 students will be transitioned to public transit, and some yellow bus service has been changed and/or cancelled.

"For cancelled routes, parents will need to find alternative transportation to get their children to school for the next few weeks until service stabilizes," the OSTA said.

Ten school bus routes have been cancelled to 10 Ottawa Carleton District School Board schools for either the morning run, the afternoon run or both. Twenty trips on 11 routes for Ottawa Catholic School Board schools have been cancelled for either the morning run, the afternoon run or both.

The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority is hoping some routes return to service during the second week of the school year.