After much time spent diagnosing and trying to repair Bus #2 we have reached the decision to pull it from service permanently. This will have an immediate impact on all bus families.
Bus #2 is a 2008 model. While it has served us well, we have deemed it end-of-life. The repairs required to keep it safe and legal are exceeding the value of the bus, and we obviously cannot operate a bus that is non-compliant with regulations or unsafe for students and drivers. This year in particular, the bus has required many repairs to keep it safe and compliant. Very few of these have required us to stop service and we’ve been happy that it has meant very few disruptions to service. However, the many problems are proving to be a costly barrier to continuing operation of this bus.
Our school society may consider and vote on the purchase of a new bus when they vote on the budget at the upcoming Spring Society Meeting (May 6). A positive vote on the purchase of a new bus is not a foregone conclusion. Even with a positive vote for the purchase of a new bus, it is unlikely that a new unit would arrive on time to be put into service before the end of the year. It’s possible that we are able to repair Bus #2 in the interim and return it to service, but this is very unlikely. We have built the following plan with the current reality of having only one serviceable bus…if this changes we’ll update our plan.
For the balance of the school year we will need to operate with one school bus. We realize that this puts a burden on all of our bus families but it is unavoidable. We will run both routes on two-week intervals according to the following schedule:
- April 29 – May 10: Route 1 (Telkwa)
- May 13 – May 24: Route 2 (Smithers/Witset)
- May 27 – June 7: Route 1 (Telkwa)
- June 10 – June 21: Route 2 (Smithers/Witset)
On their off-weeks, parents are encouraged to arrange car pooling.
We have added the above schedule to the school calendar here and it will show up in the MyBVCS app soon.