The UCP will add 250 bus routes in Alberta to help parents and students with transportation issues..On Tuesday, Alberta Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange made the announcement Tuesday from Heritage Hills Elementary School in Sherwood Park.."We recognize the school authorities and parents are under pressure due to rising transportation costs and inflation," LaGrange said.."And to help relieve this pressure. We are providing school authorities with an additional $414 million over the next three years to support school transportation improvements.".The money will be provided through Budget 2023 if passed.."This increased funding will ensure the Alberta student transportation system is safer for students, more affordable for parents and families and responsive to the funding needs of our school authority partners," LaGrange said.."Not only are we making historic financial investments to improve student transportation, but we're also updating eligibility criteria through regulatory changes.".New changes to the school transportation regulation will include reducing the distance eligibility for students from the current 2.4-km to one-km for Kindergarten to Grade 6 students and two kilometres for Grades 9 to 12 and include reducing the maximum distance from a student's residence to their best route and modifying the distance calculation.."So it uses the shortest driving route and no longer includes walking paths," LaGrange said.."This means about 80,000 more students will be eligible for provincially funded school transportation, currently about 47,000 students are paying a transportation fee to get to and from school. With the eligibility changes, their families will save more than $20 million in future transportation costs.".Additionally, more than 30,000 students who are not currently eligible for transportation services will become eligible.."We will be able to accommodate about 20,000 new newly eligible students by placing them in buses that are not currently at capacity, particularly in our rural areas and to serve the remaining 13,000 students we expect to add about 250 additional school bus routes," LaGrange said.."Lowering the eligibility distance and adjusting distance calculations will enhance student safety and increase clarity for parents and school authorities. Keeping in mind school authorities need ample time to make operational changes and to communicate them to parents. These changes will take effect Sept. 1 of 2024."
