SD28 Bus Schedule for 2018-2019 School Year

Courtesy of School District #28 (Quesnel)

Editor's Note -- Interesting choice of words "misinformation" when referencing the June 26th Quesnel City Council discussion around adding additional transit hours for students in September.  Certainly, as an "observer", there is an "difference of opinion" here and perhaps instead of "airing dirty laundry" in public - a meeting between Quesnel Council/SD28 Trustees would have been the better route.  For full context of the press release below (issued last week) - click here

The Board of Education wish to announce the new school bus schedule for the 2018-19 school year is now available on School District 28's website (www.sd28.bc.ca). There are changes to various bus runs from the previous year as a result of the relocation of Quesnel Junior School (QJS) to the old Maple Drive site and the additional minutes added to next school year’s calendar due to the two-week spring break trial.

The District has made thoughtful changes to better serve the needs of students and to enhance student safety. Efforts have been made to limit buses travelling up and down Dragon Lake Hill which will improve safety in winter conditions. School bus stops near the Recreation Centre are planned but will have a short walking distance and there will continue to be some service around the North Quesnel area/Downtown, though more limited due to the move of QJS.

The District will continue to fulfill our mandate to safely bring students requiring transportation from their neighborhoods to school and back to their place of care at the end of the day. There are no gaps in this service resulting from either the relocation of QJS or the addition of minutes in the school day due to the two-week spring break.

The Quesnel Board of Education also wish to clarify misinformation recently shared at the June 26 Quesnel City Council meeting regarding downloaded costs and last minute requests for public transit changes to accommodate students of the Quesnel School District. The District suggested to Quesnel City staff that aligning public transit would continue to be a supportive arrangement. At no time was there a formal request from the Board of Education to Quesnel City Council for public transit changes. Furthermore, there was no expectation that the suggestion be implemented if additional costs or burden to the City resulted.

The Board of Education’s decision in March to implement the two week spring break trial, resulted in an additional eight (8) minutes being added to the end of each day commencing in September. District staff contacted City staff to discuss how these changes and the relocation of QJS would impact public transit ridership. The initial meeting request came at the beginning of April to allow adequate time for change. The meeting was initiated in good faith in an effort to be good community partners and to allow the City of Quesnel to make changes to their transit schedule, if deemed necessary.

Prior to the two-week spring break change, the public transit system times were consistent with the end of day schedule at both QJS and Correlieu (the school bus hubs in the District). Students or staff could use public transit after school hours with very little wait times.

Once the new school year starts, there would be misalignment between public transit timing and bell times at the bus hubs. The benefit of the public transit aligning with the bell times of our schools is that it allows students alternative means of transport to attend extra-curricular activities at the arena, Quesnel Recreation Centre or to get Downtown for after school jobs. The District will still be able to service the Downtown core and areas such as the Recreation Centre. However, there may be difficulty accommodating one-time or short-term riders in larger than expected numbers. An aligned public transit option would serve these needs.