IRRAWANG Public School students were left waiting for a school bus service they weren't told was cancelled, adding to mounting criticism of Hunter Valley Buses.
The school posted on its Facebook page around 8.55am on Monday that the route 1451 service had not arrived to collect students. It was scheduled to arrive at the school at 8.44am.
"Please check on your children if they usually catch this bus," principal Stacy Mathieson wrote.
"We are trying to contact the bus company to see if there is another coming. We have not heard back yet."
The school provided an update shortly before 9.30am, saying it called the company and was told the service had been cancelled.
"They are trying to get one of their other buses to collect," the school wrote.
"We have requested they let the school know ASAP if a bus is ever cancelled so we can let parents know."
One mum provided her number and said she could pick up any children still waiting.
Port Stephens MP Kate Washington said several other suburbs and schools were also experiencing cancellations with little or no notice or a replacement service.
Nickie Buehler said the route 1331 Thornton to Seaham Public School did not arrive on Monday, or last Wednesday, to pick up her daughter Lilliana, aged seven, from Nelsons Plains.
"I got in the car and had to drive up Brandy Hill and tell all the kids 'The bus isn't coming, you'll have to find your own way'," she said.
"It's scary, there's no communication and there needs to be some sort of app or public page to say it's not coming... long term if it's going to keep happening I'm going to have to change my work pattern and lose hours."
Ms Washington said she'd been told the bus from Medowie to Irrawang High School was cancelled on Monday and that an afternoon bus from the school to Lemon Tree Passage and another to Medowie had been cancelled almost every afternoon.
"It's awful and it's on a daily basis now," Ms Washington said.
"It's appalling and it can't go on. Parents deserve to have faith that buses will turn up and right now they can't.
"The government and minister must look at what's happening and make sure our school buses are turning up on time, or turning up at all, full stop.
"There are local solutions and they should be put in place."
Hunter Valley Buses' seven-year contract started on July 1, 2021.
"A contract has conditions and requires them to be met," Ms Washington said.
"If you enter into a contract you're meant to comply with it.
"They are contracted to deliver the school bus services and they are not delivering them, so there has to be ability under that contract to remove it from them if they're not able to provide the service and to give it to a company that can deliver."
A spokesperson for CDC NSW [Hunter Valley Buses' parent company ComfortDelGro Corporation] said COVID-19 and influenza were impacting services and driver shortages and absenteeism were causing last minute cancellations.
"Where at all possible replacement services for school routes are prioritised to reduce the overall impact on customers," they said.
"We understand the frustration of our customers and we apologise for any inconvenience.
"Whilst we continue to recruit new drivers across the Hunter Valley region, we are looking for solutions that will allow us to inform on time about any disruption of the service."
The spokesperson said the company tried to inform customers "where possible" when services were affected so they can make alternative arrangements.
"We are working on finding communication solutions with the schools and parents, such as posting any last-minute changes on our Twitter account @CDCNSW as well as a Facebook group 'Hunter Valley Buses school trips' and an automatised messaging service upon subscription.
"Transport for NSW is working with CDC NSW to assist in providing support to reduce the impact."
Port Stephens Coaches general manager Chris Fogg said Hunter Valley Buses could call on his company, Rover Motors and Busways for help.
He said these companies had also been affected by the driver shortages but had not missed a trip.
"No operator in the Hunter could take [Hunter Valley Buses' contract] on because of its enormity, the only solution they have is to relinquish some routes for a period of time to neighbouring operators that have some capacity, to give them some capacity back to not miss trips," Mr Fogg said.
"We can't just sit on our hands and keep on accepting it because we don't want a Daniel Morcombe situation in the Hunter - you've got an obvious duty of care to make sure those kids get to school and then get home again," he said.
"There is help out there... it's gone on long enough and they need to come up with solutions.
"We're all in this together and we don't want to see the travelling public disadvantaged any more than they have been."
