School transport | 7000 schoolchildren deprived of yellow buses every day

School transportation failures prevent 7,000 schoolchildren from taking their bus each day in Quebec, a new study reveals. The level of profits generated by the industry could, however, allow for improving the conditions of drivers and, therefore, the service provided, the researchers estimate.

Lack of staff

“The main factor in service disruptions is a lack of staff. And if the industry is having trouble retaining its staff, it’s because the conditions offered are inferior to those in other passenger transport sectors,” observes the author of the study, Colin Pratte, a researcher at the Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomies (IRIS). His group calculated, by making more than 70 access to information requests, that approximately 7,000 schoolchildren do not have access to a yellow bus on a daily basis, and this has been the case since 2022. This represents 1.2% of the 580,000 schoolchildren who take school transportation. “It may seem small, but when you consider that these service disruptions were non-existent until very recently, there is reason to be concerned,” emphasizes Mr. Pratte.

Financial margin

According to IRIS, school transportation companies earned an average pre-tax profit rate of 13.5% between 2012 and 2019. One of the main carriers, Sogesco – which controls 12% of the market – has an average profit margin of 15.5% over the last 10 years, according to the study. In Canada, the average profit margin for school transportation companies is around 7%, according to the same study. “This shows that, contrary to what we are led to believe, the Quebec industry is doing very well in terms of profitability. It’s hard to believe that we don’t have the means and the financial margin to better pay drivers,” says Mr. Pratte.

More and more concentrated

In 2011, in a report on the school transportation model in Quebec, the Office of the Auditor General (AG) expressed concern about a market that was increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few players. The AG spoke at the time of 10 companies that controlled 35% of buses and minibuses, emphasizing that “these elements represent a financial risk, hence the need to evaluate the efficiency of the contract award process, determine the impact of the reduction in the number of carriers and define the measures to be taken.” “Today, this risk has increased. We are at more than 40% in the hands of these 10 companies,” maintains Colin Pratte.

Public management?

According to the study, school transportation management by school service centres seems to produce good results. “In the sectors where we have seen pilot projects implemented, such as in Lanaudière, service breakdowns have dropped by 95%. These are extraordinary results that show that this model seems to attract and retain staff more. It needs to be explored further,” notes Colin Pratte. The author of the report also points out that in several other provinces, such as New Brunswick, Manitoba, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, the school vehicle fleet is mostly public. In Quebec, it is less than 1%.

The vagaries of rolling

On average, the seniority of employees in North American school transportation systems is around 10 years. In the private sector, which is the majority in Quebec, it is three years. Result: “staff have less experience and are more likely to make mistakes,” says Mr. Pratte. According to current American literature, “the risk of accidents is 1.5 times higher if school transportation services are provided by private carriers,” the study recalls. “As for me, the simple argument of the safety of our children should encourage our governments to make decisions quickly,” concludes the researcher.