POWAY, Calif. (KGTV) — A bus driver strike that is preventing service on some routes across San Diego County is causing particular problems for parents at Poway High School.
While most of the impacted routes are in the South Bay, one of the other routes is one that includes a stop across the street from the school.
The drivers work for a company called First Transit, which is contracted by MTS to conduct around two dozen routes, along with minibus and service for some disabled passengers. The drivers have worked without a contract since it expired in March. They walked off the job Wednesday morning, partly as a solidarity strike with bus drivers in Imperial County.
The Poway Unified School District emailed Poway High parents earlier in the week, notifying them of the threat of a work stoppage and suggesting families put a backup plan in place.
MTS has since posted a sign at the Poway High bus stop, including a link for impacted passengers to get more information. A district spokesperson told ABC 10News that there has only been one student marked absent or tardy thus far due to the strike.
However, other bus routes in Poway have been shut down as well because of the strike. Caitlin Neilan, who normally rides the bus from a stop along Poway Road to her job in Sabre Springs told ABC 10News she had to walk to work Thursday, a stretch more than three miles each way, making for an additional two hours of commute time.
"A little bit overwhelmed about it. It's tiring," she said.
