School bus woes come to a close, full service returns to SD57

The days of cancelled bus routes in School District 57 appear to be over.

It has been over a week since Diversified Transport started running school routes again, since then only one route has been cancelled – due to illness.

In December, SD57 announced the return of Diversified, the bus service they had chosen to part ways with in the summer, to help fill holes left by First Student, the new bus service.

Diversified is currently running six routes, mainly serving the Beaverly, Vanway and Pineview areas.

“Things are looking better and better,” said Lee Karpenko, the Assistant Superintendent of SD57.

“We are happy that both bus providers have been able to get our students to school.”

He said bringing Diversified back into the mix was a process that took around 8 weeks.

“We certainly heard from parents, how difficult it is. Behind the scenes we were doing everything we possibly could to get kids to school as effectively as possible.”

Looking back on the last four months of fractured bus service, Karpenko thanked parents for their communication and patience.

“We are thankful that parents gave us feedback,” he said. “If they directly contact us and we are aware of the situation, we are able to follow up. We want to hear if it is working or not working.”

Moving forward, Karpenko said work will shift to making existing bus routes quicker and more efficient, and launching an app that will allow parents to track real-time updates on where busses are on their journey.