More students from grades 7 to 12 will be eligible to ride the bus to school in September – but independent bus drivers say all it means is catching up to other boards.
The move to shorter walking distances is a result of a decision by trustees of the Upper Grand District School Board to revise its transportation policy.
Currently students in those grades must walk 4.8km to school before they can be considered for bus transportation. The board’s decision means those distances will drop to 3.2km for grades 7 and 8 and to 3.5km for students in grades 9 to 12.
The walking distances for the board are among the highest in the province and have not been revised for more than 20 years. The school board said in a press release that was due to transportation funding issues.
With the development of the Wellington-Dufferin Student Transportation Services (WDSTS) consortium and following two Ministry of Education effectiveness and efficiency reviews, funding has increased to the point where the walking distances can be reduced for some students.
“This is welcome News that’s been a long time coming,” said board chairman, Bob Borden. “Trustees report that our walking distances are the subject of many concerns for parents that we have not been able to remedy due to years of funding shortfalls.”
The board also stated in the press release, “One of the most difficult changes required by the reviews was the move to competitive procurement practices under a Request for Proposal (RFP) process which began with 25% of the bus routes done in 2008-09, and the remaining 75% of the routes subject to the process during this school year.”
The board stated the high rating led to increased revenues in the transportation area while the RFP process decreased expenditures, allowing the board to lower the walking distances.
For the first time in many years, the board’s transportation costs fit into the revenue received from the province. The approximate cost of the changes is $767,400 for the 2010-11 school year.
That RFP process came at a cost though, as many private, family-operated bus companies lost their contracts to bus students.
The day the board announced the shortened walking distances, the Independent School Bus Operators Association was rallying at Queen’s Park to protest the forced RFP process that cost many small companies their business.
Lesa McDougall, of Mount Forest, was one of the speakers at that rally.
She said in her speech in Toronto, “The uncertainty and arbitrary nature of the RFP process is at the heart of my concerns. When a company does well in one round, and then loses big in the next (11 months later), it has nothing to do with that company and everything to do with the flawed assumptions that went into designing the process.
“This process creates an environment of uncertainty, predatory bidding, destabilization, and this level of risk comes at a price. In the short-term, operators bidding on RFPs will have to factor this new level of risk into their bids, or risk cutting their throats over the life of the contract.”
Walking distances for students from the other boards (French-language public and Catholic and Dufferin Peel Catholic) historically have been lower in most grade categories than the Upper Grand.
The new walking distances do not yet match those of the other four consortium school board partners, a goal of the ministry, but it brings them in line with those of the Wellington Catholic District School Board for all grade levels except 9 to 12. Upper Grand’s high school students will still walk farther than their Catholic counterparts, but only by 0.3km, beginning in September.
McDougall said the savings in the RFP may be fleeting.
In her speech, she said, “There is now a reduction in competition, and the increase in costs on the next bid may be substantial.”
She added there are safety factors to consider, “But, when price is more important than safety, there are ramifications that may be dire.”
For Wellington County, McDougall said, “In rural Ontario, the government’s experiment means loss of jobs: real economic losses to families, the community and business closures.
“Six communities in north Wellington alone lost their local operator: Mount Forest, Arthur, Drayton, Alma, Belwood and Kenilworth. We cannot pick up our business and move to another locale. We have one customer and are bound to our communities.”
Approximately 70% of the Wellington and Dufferin County bus students served by the consortium attend Upper Grand schools. The change means that about 840 students will be eligible for bus transportation in September 2010.
During the coming months, staff at the consortium will be revising bus routes to extend service to the students who are now eligible.
