Another school year has arrived, and we are excited! We’ve spent the summer recruiting, hiring and training highly-qualified and caring drivers to fill our nearly 600 routes.

Our President Les Cross spoke to Global News on Tuesday morning to talk about our driver recruitment efforts and what families need to know about this new school year.

CLICK THE VIDEO below to watch the full interview.

And yesterday, SOUTHLAND’s Regional Director for Southern Alberta, Arjan Slagmolen, joined CBC Radio’s morning show The Calgary Eyeopener to explain about the unique challenge in Calgary to staff routes given a tight labour economy, a growing city with new schools opening and competition for jobs in the transportation industry. 

CLICK THE LINK below to check out Arjan’s interview on CBC.

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-5/clip/16090666 https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-5/clip/16090666

Calgarians really light up over GlobalFest. And SOUTHLAND Transportation is proud to have wrapped another successful year as the official transportation provider.

GlobalFest is an annual celebration of Calgary’s multi-cultural communities and features pavilions, performances, international food, children’s programming and of course – the crowning event – the internationally-renowned fireworks show.

This year’s event ran from August 15^th to 24th and showcased presentations produced by world-class pyro musical artists hailing from the world over.

SOUTHLAND drivers happily, and safely, shuttled hundreds of people from Sunridge Mall to Elliston Park, and our VIP locations. We also had a few Safety Teams on site to ensure that everything ran like clockwork, which it has for the last thirteen years or so that we have partnered with the event.

SOUTHLAND’s Calgary Charters Manager Tara Irwin says drivers and the safety teams deserve a big salute for always transporting GlobalFest-goers safely and comfortably.

“Our drivers always drive with care and exude a positive attitude. As I say every year, we couldn’t pull it off without them. Thank-you, drivers!”

We would also like to thank all of the volunteer shuttle ticket sellers – a great crew who were all willing to support each other and provide great customer service. We sold over 4,300  wristbands, had a bunch of laughs and got to know quite a few die hard fireworks fans. 

The Fourth Annual My First Ride Event, hosted by Lethbridge School Division, Holy Spirit Catholic School Division, and Southland Transportation, was held on Saturday, August 17th, at The Children of St. Martha’s School.

Southland Operations Manager Andrea Rioux and her team were on-site to provide details on bus safety and protocols for the 2024/2025 school year.

Click the video below to watch Andrea explain how the free program educates students and parents alike.

Check out SOUTHLAND‘s latest advertisement airing on CTV Atlantic.

We shot the commercial two weeks ago, and it turned out really well.

Thank you to all who were involved, especially our star, Penny Langdon! You did great! 

Diversified Transportation is thrilled to announce our collaboration with STM Driven providing charter services for Brigham Young University groups out of Utah.

This partnership has allowed us to support academic and extracurricular activities, ensuring students and faculty travel safely and comfortably.

Looking forward to a great collaboration ensuring everyone gets Safely Home.

Two members of the larger PWT family are celebrating.

Earlier this month, Century Transportation was announced as one of the top winners of the Student Transportation Services of Central Ontario (STSCO) Request for Proposal (RFP) award. STSCO is the organization responsible for planning school bus routes for several school boards in the area. This agreement secures Century ten years of consistent routing in the area, providing for stability and continuity of the team in place. Even better, being the successful bidder on the RFP allows Century to grow its number of routes.

Regional director Steve Collins placed much of the praise for the win on Century employees, saying in an email “We want to express our sincere appreciation for your loyalty to the company. Your dedication and hard work have been instrumental in our success, and we look forward to many more years together.”

 One of those celebrating Century’s recent good news is Ruth Mathews. She has been a school bus and charter driver with the company since 1981. Ruth is in her 44^th year and is a role model for our new drivers!

And a lot has changed in the time she’s been driving. “We didn’t even use log books back then,” she says, laughing. When she became a mother, her three-month-old son began riding the bus with her because back then, “that was all we had (for mat leave) three months!”

As her children grew, they all rode on the bus with her through their school years. And she’s come to know the territory well. “I drive back roads with not a lot of stops, and I’ve gotten to know all the kids and their parents well.”

When asked why she’s stayed at Century for nearly a half-century, she doesn’t waste a second to respond.  

“There’s no way I’d go somewhere else because we have the best boss ever, Steve (Collins). I keep saying, ‘if you leave Steve, I’m leaving.’”

 Thankfully, beyond Steve, she appreciates Century’s culture. “We have barbecues and breakfasts and stuff. I usually try to attend, and I like to go to the safety meetings and, you know, start-up meetings and all that stuff. And Raise The Bar. I really like that.”

And we like your attitude, Ruth! Thanks for being a loyal and cautious school bus driver for all these years, Ruth. Century has been lucky to have you.