Bus routes to several Saskatoon high schools won’t be running come the first day of classes Tuesday. The city’s bus fleet is down in numbers due to a maintenance backlog.
The city said Friday there is a shortage of mechanics to fix and repair busses. Typically, around 100 busses keep transit services running as normal but, as of Friday, Saskatoon Transit was down 15 to 20 busses.
Several routes will be suspended starting Tuesday including high school special routes as well as downtown direct and university direct services.
The only high school route that will not be suspended will run from College Park to St. Joseph.
High school routes take students to and from different schools across the city. University direct routes pick up passengers in areas such as Lakeview, Lakewood and Stonebridge and head to the University of Saskatchewan campus with limited stops.
The suspensions could affect thousands of students.
All regular routes, dart routes and the Caswell School special route will continue to run.
The city said they’re asking mechanics to work overtime, but that it will take the group a while to catch up on the backlog.
Temporary shuttles will be set up Tuesday to run from the Centre Mall to Holy Cross and Walter Murray Collegiate, as well as from the Confederation Terminal to Bethlehem Catholic High School and Tommy Douglas Collegiate.
The public and Catholic school divisions will be informing parents about the transit changes through electronic voicemail messages and on their websites.
Most colleges at the university begin classes Wednesday.
