March 22 – School Bus Transportation Update

SCHOOL BUS TRANSPORTATION UPDATE

Sudbury Student Services Consortium
Sunday, March 22, 2026

Suspension of Service: City of Greater Sudbury

Normal Service: Espanola, Massey, Manitoulin Island, as well as the communities of Markstay/Warren, St.Charles, French River and the surrounding areas

Summary

Area schools will be open on Monday, March 23, 2026 to serve students who can safely attend school. Childcare services will also be operating as scheduled.

The School Bus Consortium is suspending all school bus stops located within the City of Greater Sudbury effective immediately, due to road conditions that pose an unacceptable safety risk to students, pedestrians, and operators. School bus services will continue to operate as normal in all areas outside the City of Greater Sudbury. City of Greater Sudbury school bus routes will be phased in as road conditions allow.

Children should not walk to and from school until sidewalks or pathways have been cleared in their respective communities. Parents/guardians are asked to assess the situation daily, and allow their children to walk only when there is a safe pathway to and from school.

Road Conditions in Greater Sudbury

Following a significant snowfall event, roads across the City of Greater Sudbury remain challenging to navigate. As of Friday, March 20, 2026, all city roads had received at least one snowplow pass. However, as per the City’s latest update, ongoing efforts are slated to address cul-de-sacs, laneways, and the lowering of snowbanks at intersections.

Additional snowfall on March 20th and March 21st further impacted city clearing operations. School bus operators and the Consortium completed road reassessments on March 22nd, 2026, and conditions showed no major improvement from those observed on March 20th.

Numerous side roads throughout Lively, Coniston, Copper Cliff, Capreol, Hanmer, Val Caron, the Donovan, the West End, Flour Mill, and other areas remain open to only one vehicle—or 1 to 1.5 lanes of traffic—with no immediate plans for widening.

Safety Concerns

Current road conditions present multiple, serious safety hazards that make school bus operations in the City of Greater Sudbury untenable at this time:

No safe waiting areas: There is insufficient space along many roadways for students to safely wait for their school buses.

Inadequate road width for pedestrians: A school bus cannot safely pass a pedestrian on many current roadways.

Inadequate road width for oncoming vehicles: A school bus cannot safely pass another vehicle on many current roadways.

Turn clearance allowances: A standard 40-foot school bus, with a 4-foot tailswing and 8-foot side range, cannot safely execute right-hand or left-hand turns at many side-road intersections where snowbanks have not been removed.

Benchmark comparison: The City of Greater Sudbury has restricted its own garbage and recycling collection equipment from operating on certain side roads due to safety concerns. School buses have a longer wheelbase than this equipment. Where the City cannot safely operate its waste collection vehicles, the Consortium cannot safely operate school buses.

Service Suspension – City of Greater Sudbury

Effective immediately, the Consortium is suspending all school bus stops for both elementary and secondary school students located within the City of Greater Sudbury. This suspension includes the following communities:

Sudbury (all areas)
Coniston
Garson
Skead
Hanmer
Capreol
Val Caron
Blezard Valley
Azilda
Chelmsford
Levack
Onaping
Dowling
Cartier
Whitefish
Lively
Copper Cliff
Estaire
Wahnapitae

Services Continuing as Normal

School bus services will continue to operate as usual in all areas outside the City of Greater Sudbury. All school bus stops for elementary and secondary school students in the following communities will be served as normal, with students transported to their transfer locations or directly to their schools:

Espanola
Massey
Manitoulin Island
Alban
French River
Monetville
Noëlville
St. Charles
Warren
Markstay
Hagar
Killarney

Modified Runs and Central Stops – Ongoing Efforts

The Consortium and school bus operators are actively working to implement modified school bus runs in order to phase in student transportation within the City of Greater Sudbury. Given the scale of operations — more than 1,000 school bus runs across more than 340 vehicles in the city — this will be an ongoing effort throughout the week.

As modified runs are established and communicated to school bus drivers, the Consortium will notify parents of newly created central stops. Families are encouraged to monitor communications from the Consortium.

Important safety message for walkers

Children should not walk to and from school until sidewalks and pathways have been cleared in their respective communities.

Parents/guardians are asked to assess the situation daily, and allow their children to walk only when there is a safe pathway to and from school.

In the interim, if possible, parents/guardians are encouraged to drive their children to school and pick them up after school. Please be patient and exercise extra care.

Carpooling is also recommended to minimize traffic congestion near schools.

If school bus routes have the capacity to assist, the Consortium may be able to offer temporary school bus service to some students. Please send an email to [email protected] only if you have no means of transporting your child to and/or from school.

Safety First and Foremost for Families

The Consortium fully recognizes that this suspension will have a significant impact on families throughout the City of Greater Sudbury. This decision was not made lightly. The safety of students, bus operators, and the public must remain the paramount concern.

Given the unprecedented amount of snowfall, let’s take care, be kind and be patient as municipal crews continue snow removal efforts.

For more information visit businfo.ca

The Sudbury Student Services Consortium reminds the public that the Consortium is the official source of all information related to school transportation.

Frequently Asked Questions will be shared on businfo.ca.

Parents/guardians are asked to visit the website for regular updates.

Questions can be directed to [email protected]