School Bus Task Force Launches Drive Yellow Campaign to Recruit Drivers

May 1st, 2023

Peterborough – Student Transportation Services of Central Ontario (STSCO), Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (KPRDSB), Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board (PVNCCDSB) and Mont Avenir Conseil Scolaire Catholique and its Bus Operators have joined forces to work on solutions to address the school bus driver shortage and prepare for the upcoming school year.

This spring, STSCO and operators First Student, Century Transportation, Student Transportation of Canada (STC), Hamilton Bus Lines, Freeman Bus Lines, Ames Coach Lines, Martin’s Bus Service and Rutherflo Transportation formed a Driver Recruitment Task Force to recruit new school bus drivers into the industry. This new task force will work together to reach the ultimate goal of getting children safely and reliably to and from school every day.

STSCO and the School Board management team are highly motivated to find short and

long-term solutions to the driver recruiting shortages affecting their areas. They are hoping to hire 60-70 new drivers to cover all school and charter routes, have enough drivers to cover spares across the system and ultimately have no bus cancellations.

“The driver shortage across the Province has been exacerbated by the pandemic,” said Roy Wierenga, the new in-coming C.A.O. for Student Transportation Services of Central Ontario (STSCO). “What we’ve all learned during this challenging time is we need to work together and lean on each other to make a change in a positive way. Our students need us.”

“Drive Yellow STSCO,” a multipronged campaign, aims to turn around ongoing driver shortages in the Municipality of Clarington, Northumberland County and Peterborough County, by enticing people who are interested in work-life balance, who love kids and who want to contribute to their community in a meaningful way to consider driving a school bus or a van over other types of jobs.

The Drive Yellow STSCO campaign launches today with the goal of raising public awareness and profile of the school bus driver position and recruiting new school bus and van drivers to the STSCO’s service areas.

The campaign consists of the “Drive Yellow STSCO” microsite designed to get people excited about the school bus industry in Municipality of Clarington, Northumberland County and Peterborough County. It includes the many benefits of becoming a school bus driver, the requirements and steps to becoming a driver, a list of operator job posts, their service areas and an easy online application process. The microsite also includes testimonials from current drivers about why they love to drive a school bus.

To promote the microsite, an ambitious multi-media campaign including digital advertising, print, radio, television, outdoor advertising, community outreach and partnership is underway.

“Along with our partners in this campaign, we look forward to continuing to support bus driver recruitment efforts and seeing the impact of this work in helping address the ongoing shortage. We are all striving for the same outcome – to ensure students are transported to and from school safely every day, and we truly appreciate the important role bus drivers play in supporting student safety and success, ” said Steve Russell, Chairperson of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.

Building on the momentum and learning of the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority’s successful “Drive Yellow” driver recruitment in Ottawa, STSCO took key insights from Ottawa driver survey research to create messaging that resonates with potential candidates. For example, drivers enjoy a great work-life balance, have weekends and summers off and the satisfaction of working with kids.

For more information on the school bus driver recruitment campaign, go to driveyellowstsco.ca.

To coordinate an interview with STSCO, please contact

Contact: Media Liaison

1-800-757-0307, ext. 220 comments@stsco.ca