Student Transportation of Peel Region - Mississauga, Ontario

Rahul M.

I’d like to share my concerns about the transport service, particularly regarding Bus 356.005 to Briarwood School. Today, the driver left behind children and didn’t stop at the bus stop, even though the parents and kids were clearly on their way. The bus arrived at 8:35 AM, much later than the scheduled time of 8:14 AM, with no prior notification of the delay from Stopr. Instead of waiting, the driver left without picking up the children.

According to the guidelines, parents and children are expected to be at the stop 5 minutes before the scheduled time, which seems fair if the bus is on time and delay notifications are sent when necessary. However, Bus 356.005 is frequently late, and no delay notifications are provided. Given this, it’s unreasonable to expect kids to wait outside in extreme weather for long time. For context, parents usually wait in a nearby building lobby and are able to reach the bus stop quickly once they see the bus approaching.

I hope the service will take these concerns seriously and address the issue.

Kate

Echoing what others have said about the bus to Briarwood school. My child is on Bus 3 (stops at Meadows and Rathburn) at the first stop and the bus is always late. But beyond that, the driver at pick up specifically has been very unprofessional.

Being 10+ minutes late everyday, yet the driver will blame us (the parents) or kids. Today my daughter who is in JK was bored waiting and was playing with a few of the other kids in the snow. When the bus driver arrived, late as usual, to the stop she waited only 1 second before she started honking the horn and raising her hands in the air. I walked over and said the kids are coming. They were only a few feet away running over as fast as they could go. She said “I’m already running late I can’t wait!”. I understand the kids need to be at the stop but they are young and having to wait some days up to 30-40 mins for the bus leads to boredom. Not to mention them being there would not have changed the lateness. The roads were completely fine so the weather could not be an excuse for the lateness.

Additionally, she took off before my daughter was even seated which is a frequent occurrence as well. She was crying because she felt like she was in trouble for not being at the bus stop yet the bus driver just closed the door and took off while she was still standing at the front.

This all could be dealt with more professionally and the bus driver could speak to other adults like they are such. After reading the other reviews I see this is an unfortunate and pervasive problem - I hope that it is addressed!

sarim H.

The school bus (bus #5 in particular for Briarwood) is hardly ever on time (since day 1). As per the official instructions, the kids and parents need to be at the stop 5 minutes before the pickup time. That would be a reasonable request if the bus was ever on time. Due to extreme cold (-28 degree temperature), most parents keep the kids indoors in a nearby building for shelter until the bus comes (since it's mostly more than 10 min late). As soon as they see the bus, they walk over to the bus. However, the inconsiderate bus driver drives off if the kids are not lined up waiting for her (regardless of weather conditions) even if they are clearly walking to the bus - a few seconds away. The driver can't wait 15 seconds but expects the kids and parents to wait for her over 10 minutes in -28 degrees. The driver is always late and blames the parents for it.

Suma R.

My daughter goes in bus number 356.005, route number 0020, bus route #5 to Briarwood public school, Mississauga. Everyday the bus comes late by 15 mins. The bus is suppose to come at 8:10 but everyday it comes at 8:25 or 8:30. The driver is very rude. The kids are still getting in to the bus and they are not yet seated she will just start the bus and go. The kids are not safe under this driver. She is not following any safety rules. She is not even bothered to see whether the kids are seated?,are they safe? nothing. I request you to change the driver of route#5 immediately. Thanks

Sania P.

Today, my brother’s bus was delayed by 20 minutes, followed by another 30-minute delay. For a full 50 minutes, he, along with over a dozen other students, was forced to wait outside in temperatures that felt like -24°C. The bus stop is located in an area with no shelter, trees, or any protection from the severe cold.

Exposure to -24°C for an hour without proper clothing puts children at serious risk of frostbite, hypothermia, and other cold-related injuries. It is deeply concerning that STOPR failed to call parents of this delay or take any steps to ensure the safety of the students.

While I understand that delays are sometimes unavoidable, and that bus driver shortages are a widespread issue, leaving students in such dangerous conditions without any communication or support is unacceptable. Parents should have been informed, and proper safety measures should have been put in place. The lack of preparedness is deeply troubling.

Some students were forced to return home and miss school because they simply couldn’t wait any longer in the extreme cold. While missing school isn’t the primary concern, the bigger issue is STOPR’s failure to manage such situations during harsh weather. This is a serious lapse in responsibility. Please, STOPR, do better.

Rose G.

Always mad, always late, always miserable. The answers that they want us as parents to have isn't communicated to us by the school or them, so not sure how they resolve issues. It's clear to me the bus drivers don't communicate with their dispatch because my daughter bus is constantly 5-10 min late and there's rarely an emailed update.

Veda C. D.

For the bus for Briarwood Public School; specifically bus 5 the driver is always late and expects kids to wait in the cold weather (about -28 degree). Generally we keep the kids in the nearby lobby due to the cold weather and we do not take more than 30s to reach the bus stop once the bus arrives. The driver comes late for more than 10 min than the expected time. The driver comes late by more than 10 minutes but doesn’t wait for even 15 secs for the kids to come. Sometimes she drives away when the kids are just on the steps.

Lia E.

Late 30 mins or more , Or No shows. consent drama me having to call daily, Dangerous location to be standing for long periods of times, Bus driver will Lie and pretend to stop, GPS tracking methods are incorrect, Dont fall for it, and if and when she does show up, "the driver" doesn't wait for your child to be seated before taking off. Plus she drives into curbs so hard that the children fly out of their seats causing injuries to my sons face, this driver is a very spiteful person and should not have this job . I will be calling my MPP
Brampton, bramalea rd