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BARRHEAD — The installation of high-definition cameras on Pembina Hills School Division buses has resulted in some motorists being charged for zooming past them while they have their red lights flashing, acting director of transportation David Sharpe told trustees during their May 24 meeting.
Sharpe, who was presenting the 2022-2023 Transportation Assurance Report, said “fly-bys” have again been an issue for the division this school year.
When a school bus is stopped and the overhead alternating red lights have been activated, traffic from both directions must come to a complete stop until the red lights have been deactivated. Passing the bus at this time is illegal and carries a fine of more than $500.
Sharpe said a total of 44 fly-bys were reported by the division’s bus drivers between September and May, which was in line with the past two years.
In response, the division has placed three extended arm stop signs on buses along with new HD cameras. Additional cameras have also been installed on other buses.
Sharpe said there had been some convictions based on the footage of vehicles captured by these cameras, adding that they had one driver go to court about a month ago.
The rest of the report was essentially a summation of the work done by the transportation department, which consists of five administrative staff, including a driving instructor, and six additional staff at two bus shops.
Sharpe said the division has 34 full-time bus drivers for the routes on the Barrhead side of the division and 31 full-time drivers for the Westlock side.
They also have 31 full-time contract bus drivers and 51 casual bus drivers who work seasonally or during specific events.
“A lot of these (casual) drivers don’t drive on a consistent basis,” Sharpe noted.
Ridership stats
Sharpe said ridership is fairly stable this year with a total of 2,520 students registered to ride buses, a slight increase from 2,494 registered in 2022 and 2301 in 2021.
The average distance between student residences and school of attendance is 17.94 kilometres. Interestingly, the longest distance is more than 100 kilometres — that is on a Fort Assiniboine area route and there is nothing they can do to shorten it, Sharpe noted.
The average ride-time for students is 41 minutes. Sharpe said 20 per cent of students have to ride the bus for more than one hour, which is up from 15.4 per cent in 2022 and 17.2 per cent in 2021.
He said that the addition of a couple of kids on certain routes can significantly add to the ride time.
Noting that they frequently get asked about “first on, first off” routes, Sharpe said they do this wherever it makes sense to do so, which isn’t the case for every bus route.
“We do this because it helps to make the run more fair for the students themselves,” he said.
Bus safety
Sharpe said bus safety is consistently a priority for the division, which is why they held Meet the Bus events in Barrhead and Westlock last August for Early Childhood Services (ECS) children.
This yearly program, which was attended by more than 100 parents and chiildren between the two locations, is specifically aimed at acquainting very young kids with the bus before they start riding it regularly.
When asked if those exercises were open to children outside of Barrhead and Westlock, Sharpe confirmed that was the case.
Deputy Supt. of human resources Brett Cooper said during the program, they also asked parents if they were interested in becoming bus drivers.
“We are getting many more young women that are signing up, which is great,” Cooper said.
Another safety exercise conducted by Pembina Hills is twice-yearly evacuation drills, which are conducted in the spring and summer.
Board chair Judy Lefebvre asked if the freak incident in November 2021 between a Pembina Hills bus and a logging truck resulted in any beefing up of the division’s efforts.
Sharpe indicated that wasn’t really the case, noting that the students basically did everything correctly.
Cooper added that the former superintendent had gotten feedback from emergency services that the evacuation of the bus had gone amazingly well.
"They were kind of blown away by how efficient the evacuation was,” he said.
Challenges
Besides the ongoing problem with fly-bys, Sharpe said inflation was starting to bring up the cost of spare parts for buses. Availability of parts was also becoming a problem, though it hadn’t yet caused any cancellations.
Spare bus driver shortages are also an ongoing issue, though they have a little better coverage in Barrhead versus Westlock, he indicated.
On the plus side, the recent removal of the Mandatory Entry Level Training (MELT) requirement for Alberta bus drivers would make recruitment a bit easier, as new drivers would no longer have to put as much time into training.
Sharpe also highlighted the reinstatement of the Fuel Price Contingency Program in 2022 as huge for the division.
He ended the report by thanking trustees for their continued support of the transportation department.
