Integrating school bus rides on hold
Public, Catholic school officials say transit plan needs more analysis
The brakes are on a plan for Edmonton public and Catholic school students to share school buses this fall.
An initial pitch to have an integrated bus system operating by next month estimated that the school districts would save at least $ 2.5 million annually and students would have shorter ride times.
Officials from both districts now say the transit plan needs more analysis.
They want to see if it’s feasible and would save money, despite a detailed study by a consultant and top administrators that set timelines and said benefits from such a plan would “greatly exceed the costs.”
Almost 44,000 students in the two districts use school bus services. Busing costs the districts a total of more than $ 50 million annually.
“They’re still in that stage of looking to make sure that if we go together, are there enough efficiencies to make that worthwhile? It’s still very important. It’s still being explored, but we just don’t have those answers yet,” said Lori Nagy, spokeswoman for Edmonton Catholic Schools.
Brad Stromberg, spokesman for Edmonton Public Schools, said the “detailed design stage of the initiative has become somewhat more complex than initially anticipated.
“We’re committed to the process, but we’re not ready to implement.”
The feasibility study released in January 2014 heralded the creation of a single transportation consortium as precedent setting. It suggested the consortium be a fully integrated legal entity by this summer that would plan routes for a complete rollout of services for September.
The study suggested that running the school- bus service through an independent consortium would allow the districts to use 24 per cent fewer buses to move students. That alone would save $ 2.5 million to $ 2.7 million.
More savings could come through a more competitive bidding process and increased buying power for the consortium. The study also suggested it could mean shorter ride times for students.
Setting up the consortium would cost more than $ 2 million, as the boards would have to hammer out deals on such things as human resources and technical support.
The idea of a consortium has been billed as a potential model for other Alberta school boards. For some, it reflected the need for further collaboration between the two Edmonton school districts, which serve almost 130,000 students.
Edmonton public school board chairman Michael Janz said Education Minister David Eggen “has made it very clear” the province is in a dire financial situation, with the NDP suggesting a more than $ 5- billion deficit in its fall budget.
“I think the government is looking for us to show leadership on this file,” he said.
The transportation consortium, he said, “is a learning opportunity for our district. If, in the future, we wanted to collaborate with other districts on other items such as purchasing, or technology ... what are some considerations? How do we make sure local autonomy is respected while we also take advantage of economies of scale?”
The province covers about twothirds of transportation costs through grants and one- third is covered through fees.
The feasibility study said Ontario has successfully run integrated bus systems.
That province has also debated the idea of entirely integrating its Catholic and public school systems, but it does not appear close to doing so after years of debate.