St. Thomas, Ontario — First Student, North America’s leader in student transportation and school bus electrification, announces the acquisition of assets from Badder Bus’ home-to-school and school charter operations. Badder Bus has more than 50 years of home-to-school experience in southwestern Ontario and joins First Student’s Ontario operations with more than 4,000 school buses on the road every school day.
“First Student is the leader in school bus transportation in Canada, and the acquisition of Badder Bus matches our operational excellence,” said President John Kenning. “Badder Bus, like First Student, believes that great transportation partnerships are built on the foundation of understanding, commitment, service performance and trust.”
First Student operates more than 170 electric school buses in Canada, making it North America’s largest single electric school bus operation. In May 2021, the company announced an order of 260 electric school buses, all of which will be deployed in Quebec.
“Badder Bus has been privileged to offer safe, reliable student transportation to the families of Elgin County for the past 27 years. We’ve been blessed to have dedicated employees, and we owe it to all our staff,” said Neil Badder. “We chose First Student because of their professionalism and desire to provide excellent customer service.”
The terms of the transaction are not disclosed. The transaction is subject to applicable contractual and regulatory approvals.
About First Student, Inc.
As a leading school transportation solutions provider in North America, First Student strives to provide the best start and finish to every school day. With a team of highly-trained drivers and the industry’s strongest safety record, First Student delivers reliable, quality services, including full-service transportation and management, special-needs transportation, route optimization, scheduling, maintenance, and charter services, with a fleet of about 40,000 buses. For more information, please visit firststudentinc.com.