“A few years ago, it cost $150 to rent a bus for a day to do an activity in town. Today, it’s $300 to $400 for the same thing. There is an impact on the outings that schools manage to do,” says Donald Landry, director of the general secretariat at the Sherbrooke Region School Service Center (CSSRS).
Several reasons can explain the increase in costs, according to the Federation of Bus Transporters. First, “we find ourselves today with aging bus fleets. We also have issues regarding the electrification of school buses,” explains its president and CEO, Luc Lafrance.
Not to mention that volunteer drivers are needed to work overtime. “The shortage of drivers also hurt us. We even had several service outages on regular routes due to the shortage,” said Mr. Lafrance, adding that “things are a little better” this year.
School buses also allow students to go on cultural and sporting outings during the day. (Archives/Le Nouvelliste)
Cultural and sporting outings
Bus trips are common in primary and secondary schools, whether for cultural or sporting outings, or for traditional end-of-year outings.
Faced with the difficulty of finding an affordable bus for their outings, schools have no other choice but to fall back on plan P, like parents.
“Schools ask parents to transport children to activities. It’s not very efficient to mobilize an army of parents to manage a trip to the museum or the theater.”
— Donald Landry, director of the general secretariat at CSSRS
More and more teachers will instead favor an “educational input” instead of an “educational output”. “For example, instead of going to a museum, they will invite an author. The quality is the same, but the experience is different. However, it is important that children can have access to this type of outing from school,” says Mélanie Laviolette, president of the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec.
Cultural institutions also rely on educational outings to ensure the success of their event. “Last year, it was not the cost, but the availability of drivers and buses that was the main factor in the cancellation of several groups on school visits to the Outaouais Book Fair,” says the director. of the event, Mélanie Rivest.
Payments of $5 to $10 per month for parents
At primary level, traditional end-of-year outings are also becoming more and more expensive. This time, schools have no choice but to ask parents to contribute financially. Some go so far as to offer parents to spread payments over the entire school year, in increments of $5 to $10 per month, so that all children can participate.
What is a fair amount that schools can charge parents? There is a fine line for the amount to be acceptable for all families, observes Ms. Laviolette.
“The end of year outing is THE outing of the year,” she continues. It’s a great moment, which has been long awaited.”
— Mélanie Laviolette, president of the Federation of Parents’ Committees of Quebec
“Fortunately, activities are planned in advance, which will help reduce costs and find buses,” she continues. But you have to be careful: not all parents are able to give an extra $60 for a day at La Ronde, in addition to meals and other entry fees for the day.”
School transport companies have been required to purchase electric vehicles since October 2021. (Patrick Woodbury/Le Droit)
14% of the school bus fleet
Regulations regarding the electrification of school transportation are also causing headaches for school bus carriers.
Companies are in fact required to purchase electric vehicles since October 2021. The objective is for 65% of the fleet to be electric by 2030, and for it to be completely electric in 2035. The Ministry of Transport of Quebec (MTQ) plans to pay 230 million by 2029, in order to support transporters in their purchases of electric buses and charging stations.
There are currently 1,500 electric school buses in circulation, or 14% of the province’s fleet.
“The distribution of electric school buses is quite widespread in the territory,” underlines Louis-André Bertrand, spokesperson for the MTQ. Regions like Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Mauricie have electrification rates equivalent to more urban regions, including Montreal, Laval and Montérégie.”
However, these electric buses are much more expensive than conventional vehicles.
A diesel bus costs around $135,000. An electric bus costs $400,000, less a $150,000 subsidy from Quebec. The company must therefore pay $250,000 for each vehicle.
“To this, we must add the costs for terminals, new installations in garages, in addition to repairs which are much more expensive and complicated,” explains Luc Lafrance, of the Federation of Bus Transporters.
An electric bus with 200 km of autonomy
Current electric buses have a range of 200 km “in optimal conditions”.
On the other hand, “we can lose a third of the battery life when it is winter, in rural areas, when the circuits are longer, in mountainous terrain, etc.,” underlines Mr. Lafrance.
Electric buses cost much more to purchase than conventional vehicles. (Etienne Ranger/Le Droit)
Buses must therefore be loaded during the day between the regular morning and evening trips, from terminals different from those of personal vehicles. It is complicated — if not impossible — to take a long outing during the day, between morning and evening transportation, notes Mr. Lafrance.
“It’s also much more complicated when there is a breakdown on an electric bus,” he adds. Before, the repair could be done in a few hours, a few days at worst. There, we have very few electromechanics, so we can lose the vehicle for several days, or even a few weeks.”
For its part, the MTQ says it is “sensitive to the question of the autonomy of electric school buses, which is a source of concern for several carriers”, particularly in remote regions located in the north of the province.
“The autonomy of school buses available on the market is sufficient for the majority of current school routes,” maintains Louis-André Bertrand of the MTQ. Additionally, technology is evolving rapidly.”
