The Nationalist Party has called for an urgent review of school transport and school bus routes amid growing concerns that children are being forced to endure journeys of up to 90 minutes each way, a situation it describes as unacceptable and detrimental to their wellbeing, learning and family life. The PN argued that while home-to-school transport was originally introduced to enable children, particularly those in rural or outlying areas, to access education, the current system is failing to balance distance, safety and time, with inefficient routing, overcrowded buses and poorly coordinated timetables leaving pupils spending the equivalent of several school days each month simply sitting on a bus. Such long commutes mean children are skipping breakfast, arriving tired and less ready to learn, losing valuable time for sleep, homework and extracurricular activities, and facing heightened absenteeism, a burden that disproportionately affects younger children and those from lower income households who have no alternative but to rely on the service.
The party stressed that journey times should be kept to a reasonable limit, noting that official guidance in many countries recommends a maximum of 45 minutes for primary and 75 minutes for secondary pupils, and that local authorities should have the flexibility to consider local road conditions, distance and safety when planning routes rather than rolling forward historic arrangements year after year. It urged the government and education authorities to undertake a comprehensive route-by-route review during term time, in consultation with parents, schools, transport operators and councils, to optimise routes, reduce duplication, prioritise direct services, invest in road maintenance and better traffic management around school clusters, and provide transparent data on average run times and on-time performance. The PN concluded that keeping bus rides as short as possible is not just a matter of convenience but a matter of educational equity, child welfare and efficient use of public funds, calling for immediate action to ensure that children arrive at school safe, on time and ready to learn rather than exhausted after a 90-minute ordeal.
