23/08/2020
Minister for Transport, Mr Eamon Ryan
Minister for Education, Ms Norma Foley
An Taoiseach, Mr Michéal Martin
An Tanaiste, Mr Leo Varadkar
Response: “Nphet advises Government that second level students must maintain strict social distancing while on school buses”
Dear Minister
This morning I have read an article in the Irish Independent that reads as below:
“School travel plans left in chaos after calls for distancing on buses”
“Travel planning for the new school term has been thrown into chaos after Nphet told the Government that second level students must maintain strict social distancing while on school buses.”
“For primary pupils social distancing should be maintained where possible”
As a person who is fairly knowledgeable in the field of Private School Bus Transport, I can indeed confirm that the Irish Independent are correct in stating this will cause ‘Chaos’.
Please take the time to let me explain to you, as a business in this particular industry for over 30 years, as why Social Distancing on school buses would not be feasible/ possible/ doable.
30th September 2019: Department of Education Report
559,378 Children registered for Primary school
371,445 Children registered for Post Primary School
930,823 Children attending school
Surely 930,823 parents cannot walk/ drive their children to school?
It is realistic to expect at least 50% of these pupils (465,000) will require school bus transport?
February 2020: CTTC (Coach Tourism & Travel Council) Report:
80% of Irish Fleet is owned by Private Bus Operators
1721 Private Operators – 9264 vehicles (80% of total Irish Fleet)
Public Transport - 2236 vehicles (20% of total Irish Fleet)
11,500 Buses approx In total Irish Fleet
· Even if all 11,500 buses in Ireland where used solely for school transport (which is impossible)
· Even if all 11,500 buses had a full 52 seats (which they are not all full size)
· At 50% capacity this would only give the full country 301,000 seats
2018 – Only 715 school buses were Bus Eireann Buses
Ratio of 87% private operator / 13% Bus Eireann on school Hire
Therefore if private operators conduct 87% of the service why were they not consulted directly in the planning?
Roadmap for Full return to schools
· On 27th July, the Dept Of Education “Roadmap to returning to school” as released.
· Page 33 states the following:
· Getting children to school safely has been a key part of planning for reopening schools
· In planning for normal resumption of school transport services consideration has been taken of the fact that school transport somewhat differs to public transport in that;
o School transport services are controlled environments
o Each transport service carries the same children on a daily basis to their school of attendance
o It is a restricted group of transport users which will facilitate contact tracing if required
How the above information was obtained and agreed upon without input from Nphet?
Why were private school bus operators not consulted with the planning of this particular section?
The Private Operator
· The private operator has been out of work with ZERO income since 12th March 2020
· The private operator has received ZERO state support due to being ineligible for any supports such as restart grants/ PPE gear funding
· Most private operators are now facing €10,000’s debt from 6 months of creditors invoice & loans stacking up
· Private Operators including myself have been contacting Department of Transport, Department of Education, and An Taoiseach since 30th April up until 28th July – looking for assistance and answers
· We have never once received relevant information from any of the above Departments
· When the Roadmap to return was received on 27th July, Operators then used the information in the document to start planning their return to work and in planning how to resurrect their business.
How can we now undo all the planning, cancel 50 of all the bookings, and make a living working on 50 capacity?
Working at 50% capacity – why is it not feasible:
A company has 300 students on 6 buses booked today 20.08.2020 (based on 27.07.2020 guidelines)
Changes to the 100% capacity now mean 150 can be transported on these 6 buses
What about the 50% that cannot be transported?
Do we cancel their service? Income reduced by 50%
Do we add another 6 buses & 6 drivers? Expenditure doubled?
· The private operator cannot operate at 50% capacity as they are NOT STATE FUNDED
· Having no income for the previous 6 months means there is no reserve for LOSS
· 50% capacity will NOT cover running COSTS for any operator they will operate at a loss
· Do we double the FARE for the remaining customers?
· Most operators including Bus Eireann do not have additional FLEET available to cover numbers
· There are no enough fully qualified D Licence DRIVERS, with up to date CPC, vetting to drive
Therefore if this is not a feasible option should we not, instead of scaring the nation with last minute panic & chaos, work together to ensure the very best safety for our children, support for our operators and implement a plan that allows us follow this roadmap to return to the very best of our ability in living alongside COVID19?
Minister Ryan, I really would welcome the opportunity to discuss this information with you further on behalf of each and every member of the Irish Private School Bus Operators.
Kind Regards
