By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

For much of this school year, parents whose elementary school children ride a shared West Island bus route say they were left scrambling—and sometimes in tears—because of the actions of a Transco bus driver. Their stories, shared with The Suburban in exclusive interviews on condition of anonymity, outline months of fear, frustration, and a lack of accountability that stretched from September until the driver’s dismissal in April.

Safety was a constant concern for families, Jessica explained “She blew through stop signs and sometimes skipped our stop altogether.” Rachel also witnessed dangerous driving. “She’d clip curbs and whip past houses. There was even a time she rear-ended a car, and we only found out about it from other parents,” she said. Mark recalled, “My own son was afraid because the driver would speed and slam on the brakes.”

Parents described how the driver threatened to slam on the brakes if children stood up—and sometimes followed through. “She actually did it with the whole bus full of kids,” Jessica said.

Reliability was another major issue. “There were days the bus would come so early or late that my daughter was left waiting outside in minus 25 weather,” Jessica said. Rachel added, “I had to wait with my baby for over thirty minutes, and sometimes the bus didn’t show at all.” Mark noted, “A friend’s child kept missing school because the bus was unpredictable.”

Verbal abuse and inappropriate comments left many children feeling targeted. “The driver told the kids nobody wanted them. She was always yelling at them to shut up,” Jessica said. Mark shared, “She once paid another kid to snitch on my son, who’s on the autism spectrum. He couldn’t understand why he was being singled out.” Rachel said, “She’d swear in front of the kids and talk about smoking. My son was told to watch movies that weren’t for children.”

Winter seemed to escalate things. “She’d ask kids if they’d gained weight if they had trouble getting over snowbanks,” Jessica said.

The parents say they felt they had no real choice but to keep their children on the bus, despite their concerns. For many, work schedules made driving impossible; some had younger children at home or other obligations that made alternative arrangements unworkable. Even so, some families found themselves considering switching schools just to avoid the daily stress.

Communication with Transco and the school board, parents say, was nearly nonexistent. “We called and emailed, but no one got back to us,” Mark said. Rachel added, “We started a group chat with other parents just to keep each other updated.”

The stress was enough that some families considered drastic changes. “I was scared to let my youngest ride the bus,” Rachel said. “There were weeks when I just drove my kids myself.” Mark said, “My son started sitting near the front out of fear and eventually didn’t want to ride the bus at all.”

The driver remained on the route until April, despite months of complaints. “School’s almost over now, and it took months to get action. All we wanted was for our kids to feel safe getting to school,” Jessica said.

Parents are left wondering why it took so long for anyone to listen. The Suburban reached out to Transco for comment but did not receive a response as of press time. n