Heavy. Abolition of school transport at midday break: discontent rises in Lannedarré

“Some parents can’t pay for the canteen… It’s a shame, but that’s the way it is!” complains Marcelle Braga. This Thursday, at 1 pm, around fifteen children, accompanied by their parents, are waiting for the school bus at the Lannedarré stop in Lourdes.

Discontent is rising among the parents. They learned that at the beginning of the school year, in September, this bus would no longer run. No more than the second serving the contrada. According to them, the entire school line has about thirty users among the inhabitants of the Lake District, Biscay and Lannedarré. School transport removed during midday break citywide.

Among these mothers, some are not transported. Other families have only one car, which is used by one spouse to get to work. Therefore, it is now impossible to pick up children at home for lunch.

The city bus timetables do not match

The bus timetables in the agglomeration also do not correspond to the school timetables. “Why stop now?” the mother always asks.

In December 2022, the Lourdes city council ruled on the matter. The first deputy, Philippe Ernandez, had announced that the agglomeration of Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées would assume this competence which belongs to him. And that the circuits would be redesigned, in particular due to a decline in attendance on these buses.

The chosen one had notably sustained a heavy fall in the Ophite district. But the mothers of families continue: “At the beginning of the next school year, with the relocation of the neighborhood, there will be even more children here!”

“We can’t pay for the canteen, everything goes up!”

Halina Sutor, another mother, wrote to the city to express her displeasure. A petition circulated in the neighborhood, gathering about sixty signatures. But since then no news.

The mother concludes: “We can’t afford to pay for the canteen. Everything is going up, the rent, the electricity, the gas, how are we going to do it?” And to argue that some residents of the neighborhood, refugees, still don’t have the right to work.

The issue of picking up on Wednesdays after school at noon also raises questions for them.

However, the latter would be willing to pay a small sum for these transports. Or that we remove one of the two passing buses. They argue that one of the two operates almost empty.

They also deplore the imminent change of carrier. “The driver knows us all, the children are more comfortable!” they say.

Contacted, the agglomeration of Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées did not respond to the request.