Council to discuss pilot project for high school bus pass program

A motion going to city council Tuesday could be the first step in approving a pilot project that would approve bus passes for students in grade nine at Clarke Road Secondary school.

A motion going to city council Tuesday could be the first step in approving a pilot project that would approve bus passes for students in grade nine at Clarke Road Secondary school.

Ward 2 Coun. Shawn Lewis is the author of the motion, along with Ward 3 Coun. Peter Cuddy. Lewis said this conversation started before the COVID-19 pandemic with then Coun. Phil Squire.

“Councillor Cuddy, who was a school board trustee at the time, was part of that conversation now that he's been elected. He and I have carried forward. We've had some discussion with the Thames Valley District School Board with both trustees and administration,” he said.

The Thames Valley District School Board of Trustees began examining what a pilot project would look like in 2023.

“What we looked at was Clark Road Secondary School and to do a pilot project so that we can gather data to look at how successful a program could be and if it is successful, then we would hope that the project could expand,” Thames Valley District School Board of Trustee Chair Beth Mai said.

The idea is to give bus passes to grade nine students at Clarke Road Secondary in the fall of 2024, and then expand that to grade nine and 10 in 2025 to gain data as to how effective the project could be if rolled out city wide.

Mai said similar projects done in other cities have shown great success.