SCHOOL TRANSPORT DILEMMA: Highway delays mean limited buses to Cairns, satellite classes in Douglas
LIMITED BUSES
Up to 70 high school students from a Cairns college will have ‘satellite’ classes in Port Douglas organised for them, probably for three days a week, until the Captain Cook Highway is repaired and restored back to two lanes again.
FNQ Bus Lines said its daily bus service from Mossman and Port Douglas to Cairns has had to be postponed due to highway damage caused by Cyclone Jasper.
Even though the road is due to reopen, most if not all of a 27-kilometre stretch still under repair will be single lane only.
This will likely mean long delays for the school bus trip.
Up to 70 high school students from Newman College at Smithfield who had been commuting daily by the FNQ bus in 2023 – will probably attend satellite classes for three days a week in the Council’s Port Douglas Community Hall, and possible at Mossman too, from February 6.
They will have the option to travel into the college on the other two days: Monday and Friday – or stay in Douglas and do e-learning.
Next week, when school is officially back for 2024, services to Cairns will run on Tuesday 23 January and Wednesday 24 January only at this stage, FNQ Bus Lines operations manager Mark Johnson said.
All school trips within Douglas itself will run as normal, he said.
Highway delays make school day too long
Current estimates for the trip to Cairns are around two to two-and-a-half hours each way.
“Students travelling on these services will be subject to a five-plus hour trip for a six-hour day at school,” Mr Johnson said.
“As such, Newman College has arranged for their students to attend classes in Mossman at least three days per week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with travel to Smithfield optional on Mondays and Fridays – to be confirmed,” he added.
“Without Newman College students this service is not viable so we will not be running a service on those days where Newman College students are not travelling.”
Other college students
This means students from Douglas at other Cairns colleges – St Monica’s and St Augustine’s who had been using the service last year – will from next week be able to get there by bus on Mondays and Fridays only, when FNQ Bus Lines runs the school services.
Because of much fewer student numbers, satellite classes in Douglas are not being provided by those two colleges.
Newsport understands that St Monica’s has offered boarding arrangements which some parents and their children have taken up, for as long as the whole first term at least.
Other parents are discussing arrangements to have their kids stay for a few nights in Cairns with friends during the week.