Additions and improvements in critical areas are steering the way toward a smoother ride for West Shore families relying on school bus service.

Harold Cull, secretary-treasurer for the Sooke School District, said an increase in on-call drivers is a welcome addition.

He said that adding on-call drivers is always a challenge because the split shifts required donB次元官网网址檛 work for some peopleB次元官网网址檚 schedules or suit some peopleB次元官网网址檚 lifestyles.

B次元官网网址淲e have about seven on-call drivers which is up from last year, so weB次元官网网址檙e trending in the right direction,B次元官网网址� Cull said. B次元官网网址淭he real challenge will come during flu season, like it does for most organizations.B次元官网网址�

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Complaints about bus service appear to be down this year compared to last year, which Cull attributed to several factors.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e done a better job of getting the routes out earlier,B次元官网网址� Cull said. B次元官网网址淭hey were out by July 31 so families could plan ahead, and that helped out. And we were able to redistribute some of the ridership to deal with pressure points that were identified last year, and evening things out has been another help.B次元官网网址�

The district also brought in some additional support to deal with calls and emails relating to bus service.

B次元官网网址淲e havenB次元官网网址檛 gotten to everyone yet, but response times are improved, compared to previous years,B次元官网网址� Cull said.

For more information, visit sd62.bc.ca/our-district/transportation.