Controversial school bus contractor Go Bus has again left students in the lurch by failing to show up on the first day of school.
A group of 10 pupils were stranded outside Masterton Intermediate School [MIS] on Wednesday, waiting for a bus that was meant to take them to Norfolk Rd but never arrived.
Principal Russell Thompson said the company did not tell MIS the service had been cancelled.
“When I called Go Bus, they weren’t apologetic; there wasn’t any sense of wrongdoing. It’s actually dangerous to leave kids waiting outside school with no way home.”
Go Bus spokesperson Maurice King said the cancellation was due to “a late driver incident”.
In late 2021, Australian-owned company Go Bus won a Ministry of Education [MoE] contract to take over Wairarapa’s school bus routes from long-standing local company Tranzit, which had held the contract for 73 years.
Last year several schools were caught short when Go Bus failed to turn up for any services on the first two days of the school year.
Thompson said this week’s no-notice cancellation was not a one-off.
“We have no relationship with Go Bus because they often won’t communicate or respond to our calls or emails.”
MoE school transport group manager James Meffan said the ministry expected a high level of service from its transport providers, and had reminded Go Bus of its obligations.
“We continue to work closely with our transport service provider to make sure that all Wairarapa services run as scheduled,” Meffan said.
Tranzit operations manager Nigel McLean said the company would be interested in picking up the school bus contract if it were to be tendered again.
