Hamilton’s school bus driver shortage causes first-day hiccups

About 600 public and Catholic school students in Hamilton felt the impact of a bus driver shortage on the first day of school Tuesday.

The chair of Hamilton’s public school board says they were 18 drivers short, resulting in a “doubling up” of some routes.

READ MORE: School bus driver shortage could affect 29 Hamilton schools

Todd White adds that the average delay was 17 minutes on those “posted routes” and a 40-minute delay being the “worst case scenario.”

He stresses that the “number one priority” is getting all students to school on time.

White says finding enough bus drivers for all routes is a struggle on many fronts, including wages and competition between neighbouring regions for the same pool of drivers.