Kanata councillor wants answers on school bus cancellations

An Ottawa councillor is demanding to know why so many school bus routes have been cancelled in the Kanata and Stittsville area this month, as school bus operators deal with a driver shortage.

In a letter to the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority, Allan Hubley says he has "questions regarding the recent cuts to service" due to the driver shortage, including how officials determine which routes to cut.

Hubley says he has been informed that 31 out of 55 routes to public schools and 15 out of 28 routes to Catholic schools in Kanata and Stittsville have been cut.

"That means that 55 per cent of your cancelled routes are from three wards, leaving hundreds of students without a school bus," writes Hubley.

"Why were west end routes cut to schools with specialized programs, like Canterbury and Merivale, with students coming from all over the city? This has resulted in students relying on OC Transpo routes or other means to get to school and parents are telling me their children are now spending 3+ hours commuting to and from school every day."