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School bus drivers are in demand in central Alberta

‘It’s tough because people are looking for full-time work’
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Corrine Varga said Chinook’s Edge is short at least 12 spare drivers to cover when regular drivers are unable to work, and the biggest problem is finding drivers in rural communities. (File photo by BLACK PRESS)

School bus drivers are difficult to find in Alberta, says the director of transportation at Chinook’s Edge School Division.

Corinne Varga said attracting drivers is a problem throughout the province according to what she heard at a spring transportation convention.

“We’re all in the same boat,” Varga said.

“It’s a part-time job. With the economy the way it is right now, everybody needs more pay.”

She said it’s not the first time that hiring drivers has been a challenge. The jobs were also hard to fill during past oilfield booms.

“Now again with the economy, all the increases in prices for absolutely everything, it’s tough because people are looking for full-time work.”

Related:

Central Alberta school bus driver wins provincial competition

Chinook’s Edge is the largest rural school division geographically in Alberta — stretching as far south as Carstairs and north to Sylvan Lake. The school jurisdiction maintains and runs 84 of its bus routes and contracts 32 routes in its northern section to Prairie Bus Lines.

Varga said right now the division is short at least 12 spare drivers to cover when regular drivers are unable to work, and the biggest problem is finding drivers in rural communities where they are needed so they don’t have to commute and they know the area.

“The challenge in rural areas is to find drivers in those communities. If I need extra bus drivers in Sundre, and I don’t have the spare drivers there, I might be pulling them from Innisfail.”

Related:

Alberta Education cushions the cost of school bus fuel



szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com

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