Ontario Ombudsman holds school boards responsible for bus crisis

The Ontario Ombudsman Investigation stated the two boards were complacent in the whole matter.

They said the boards were well aware of the shortage of drivers as early as 2016.

After the new transportation agreement, several routes were revised as per the new methods of assigning routes.

The Investigation found out that some operators were either unable or unwilling to cover those routes.

Though the boards were informed about the crisis by a top transportation official prior to the beginning of the academic year, none of them paid heed to the warning.

Ombudsman Paul Dubé was quoted by 680 News: "My investigation found that, far from being unpredictable and beyond the control of the school boards and Toronto Student Transportation Group, the 2016 transportation disruptions were rooted in their actions and inactions before the start of the school year."

The boards said they brought several changes which include giving routes to bus operators which were earlier in the planning process, installing new software for bus routes and the launch of the online transportation portal.

(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)

Image: Creative Commons.