Four months into bus strike, parents say getting kids to school is a logistical issue

Some 15,000 children are still without bus service in Quebec as the Tranco school bus drivers are still on strike.

After almost four months, parents are getting impatient.

Every morning, Helen Sanders brings her daughter to the 124. It's the only bus that goes directly to Roslyn Elementary in Westmount, her child's school. The walk to the bus takes 25 minutes.

"I feel like no one is taking care of us. No one is actually thinking on the ground what is happening for the kids," said Sanders.

Meeting at Vendome metro and taking the 124 bus is the new normal for many students at Rosyln, because of the Transco bus strike.

Some parents have started a Whatsapp group to help each other out, and make sure the children get to school safely.

"I know when I put her on the bus that there are a bunch of other parents on the bus and I feel realtively safe having her do that. But there are kids in primary school who are taking the metro, by themselves," said Sanders.

Other parents who rely on public transit say the strike is an inconvience that's taking up hours of their day and risking their jobs.

"I start my journey with my son around 8 a.m. and I will be in my office around 10 a.m.," said Vahid Kamali, who takes the bus with his son in grade 3.

The bus is a work-around but not ideal, parents said. It only comes every half hour, so the dozens of students who take it every day are late and it's impacting their school day.

"I'm late and a lot of the time I'm in my French class and they're already doing something, so I have to catch up," said grade 6 student Phillipa Korning.

Transco bus drivers went on strike four months ago. The union recently rejected an offer of a 20 per cent increase for the first year and 33 per cent for the six-year contract.

English Montreal School Board is not allowed to hire another bus company because of its contract with Transco, according to EMSB spokesperson Mike Cohen.

"We wish it would end, unfortunately the school board has really no ability to intervene or to make this go away anytime soon," said Cohen.

Transco and the union were not available for interviews by CTV's deadline -- but parents are pleading with both sides to get the wheels moving.