Community bus driver Jim Fisher is passing the reins on to the next in line. He will continue to make a few more trips this season with the coach vehicle, but as far as he's concerned, he's done.
“I've had enough – between politics and I'm getting too old,” he said. “It's not really our politics. It's the politics from the rest of the people who want to rent the bus.”
Demand is increasing for community buses in the province, creating more duplicate bookings, according to community and recreation officials.
Too often conflicts would emerge when a local group wanted to book the bus last minute when it was already reserved by an out-of-town organization, Fisher said.
“They figure they can call a day or two before,” he said. “People probably thought it was bought for Innisfail only.”
Coun. Heather Taylor was on the committee that helped raise money for the bus a few years ago. Donations poured in from all over the region and now groups from all over the region can rent it, she said.
“We just formed a society and started raising money,” said Coun. Heather Taylor. “The purpose of the bus was to have a bus service for people to rent out in the community of Innisfail and surrounding area.”
Boyd Williams, a director on the board of the Blackfalds Wranglers, said they booked the bus for the year back in August.
He says it's not their fault if a group from Innisfail doesn't try to secure the bus until the last minute.
“They're in crisis management mode which isn't our fault,” he said. “Number two, when the bills show up we pay our bill.”
So far in cases where the bus was requested in Innisfail on a previous booking, the Wranglers would be provided with a bus from another company, he said.
It can be hard to keep a community bus financially sustainable, he notes, adding that's what happened in the case of Lacombe.
“We had a Lions Club bus for years and years and we just couldn't keep it busy,” he said. “You have to keep that bus busy to have the bus pay for itself.”
One reason for the uptick in demand for community buses across the province is Hockey Alberta's travel rules. Minor hockey guidelines stipulate that when tournaments are more than a certain number of kilometres away, teams have to transport kids on a bus.
“It's just a safety thing,” Williams said. “It put a lot of strain on these buses.”
