Moncton students struggle with bus lockout

Hundreds of Moncton students are scrambling to find a way to school as the Codiac Transpo lockout continues in the city.

Many university and high school students rely on the buses to get to classes, but the buses have been off the road since June, whenMoncton locked out drivers and mechanicsduring a contract dispute.

The city has extended its taxi chit program to students with a valid ID card and increased the available vouchers.

Joelle Martin, the Universite de Monctons student body representative, said thats not enough.

"[It's] still expensive in my opinion. It's better than not having any solution. It would be better for students just to have the public transport back," she said Thursday.

She added the entire bus system needs an overhaul.

"It is used, but it's not well adapted to the student needs. Not only do we want the public transportation to start again, but we want it to change a little to be more efficient for students."

School board paying for extra costs

Carole Murphy of the Anglophone East School District is helping about 200 high school students find an alternative wayto get to school and todifferent programs during the day.

The school district is responsible for transporting the students and for covering extra costs.

"We're just actually trying to figure out what the expense will be. They're working on a contingency plan, so as they develop the plan, the costs will become more clear," she said Thursday.

The city will be meeting with student body representatives next week to discuss possible transportation options.

Premier David Alwardurged Moncton and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1290 to get back to the bargaining tableand end the contract dispute last week, but said the province will not get directly involved.

There is no timeline for when talks will resume, or when the buses will be back on the streets.The dispute centres on wages. Transit workers have been without a contract since 2010.

Codiac Transpo serves Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe.