Ottawa school bus authority offers bus service to students living in 5 ‘community hazard’ areas

The Ottawa Student Transport Authority will be offering bus service to 5 'community hazard' areas over safety concerns. CTV’s Katie Griffin reports.

The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) is implementing a “community hazard designation” for five schools in the downtown and Lowertown areas, offering students a ride to school instead of walking.

Starting March 9, 60 students at five schools will be added to existing bus routes for transportation every day, giving them a “secure, supervised alternative for the daily commute,” OSTA said.

“The implementation of the community hazard designation is a proactive, temporary measure designed to protect our students—our most vulnerable population—until local conditions improve,” the student transportation said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

“This decision was not sparked by any single event. Rather, it is an evidence-based response to a documented increase in safety concerns from parents, school administrators, and the broader community regarding complex social and environmental conditions along specific walk routes. As a transportation authority, it is well within our purview—and indeed, our responsibility—to adapt our services when the environment poses a risk to student well-being.”

The five schools are:

• Cambridge Street Community Public School
• Devonshire Community Public School
• St. Anthony School
• Viscount Alexander Public School
• York Street Public School

The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority says it will be up to the families of the 60 students to decide whether to use the school bus.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stephanie Plante said she had been in talks with the OSTA and upper level of government about this issue.

“This has been a long-standing request,” Plante told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron.

“I’m glad to see that there’s a recognition that there’s a problem by OSTA, and I’m really glad to see them come forward with a creative solution. We would love to have these scenic, ideal walkable neighbourhoods where everything is peaceful and quiet, but that’s just not the reality right now.

Plante said parents told her they have kept their children home from school, “because they were unhappy with what the children were seeing and experiencing on their walks.”

“Discarded paraphernalia, people shooting up, there’s been some pit bull incidents – usually they’re associated with the drug dealers,” Plante said about what she’s heard children see on their walks to school.

In a statement on Facebook, Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster said, “Chinatown is not a ‘hazard zone.’”

“We need health care and supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness and addictions. Not a bus for kids who live a block away from school.”

The transportation authority said, “We recognize that these conditions are part of a broader, more complex social challenge facing our city.”

“While OSTA cannot solve these systemic issues, we can ensure that a student’s day begins and ends in a controlled, secure setting,” OSTA said.

“Community safety is fluid, and we will continue to monitor these zones in close collaboration with our member school boards. Our ultimate goal is to return to standard walking routes as soon as the environment allows, but until that time, we will not compromise on student safety.”

Parents concerned over neighbourhood safety

Many parents say they welcome the move, as many have seen growing safety issues in the area.

“I don’t think anyone’s thrilled with the labeling of ‘we live in a danger zone or a hazard zone’ now, but it’s accurate,” said parent Nik Sydor.

“I’m going to keep walking with my kids and instructing them on sort of what a safer route is, generally by avoiding Somerset. But I definitely agree with the decision to offer the bus service to people.”

OSTA said Monday that of the 60 eligible students, 40 have opted in for the bus.

“It’s basically telling us formally that our neighborhood is unsafe, that we’ve been abandoned by local and by provincial government,” said Mike Chatham who says the walk with his kids to school can be unsettling and dangerous with “rampant drug use everywhere, needles everywhere.”

“We typically do an Earth Day thing where we clean up our block and sadly this year we don’t think the kids will be safe doing it because we don’t know how many needles, how many pipes, how much drug paraphernalia is hidden underneath the snow and everything,” Chatham said.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Katie Griffin

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