Canadians Invest in School Bus Future

Dennis V. Powell, Special to School Transportation News

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Delegates from across Canada arrived here for the start of the 4th Annual Canadian Pupil Transportation Conference, held April 29 – May 3, 2006.

Following opening ceremonies where government officials expressed their appreciation for the job that people perform throughout the school bus industry, Jim Clemmer, a motivational speaker, gave a presentation focusing on “Leading at the Speed of Change” His theme was the continuing evolution of school bus operations at an ever-increasing pace.

Industry consultant Pam Mood spoke on “School Bus Bullies: Strategies and Approaches.” She stressed the difference between teasing and bullying, reasons behind such behavior, what to do about it and more.

Monday afternoon attendees loaded onto buses and were transported to the trade show. There, nine buses and 32 supplier booths provided them a look at the new equipment and services available to pupil transporters.

One of the highlights of the conference was a presentation by Jay Rieger, senior regulatory development engineer for School Bus and Child Restraints, Transport Canada. He presented the findings of studies by his agency about restraining children in school buses.

Child Safety Seats
Rieger opened by discussing school bus safety in general, including “the usual exercise at the start of every school year — seat belts” he said. “Lap (-only) belts are not the way to go but we have no data to support 3-point belt use at present time.”

Rieger then segued into whether small, pre-school children benefit equally from compartmentalization as do older children. “Our studies show a child under 40 pounds does not benefit from compartmentalization,” he said. “They don’t have the weight or body mass to create enough energy to deform the seat in a frontal crash. As a result they spring back” from the compartmentalized seat in front, he explained.

Rieger said that Transport Canada is finalizing a regulatory amendment to require universal latch anchorage systems on all new school buses. “Operators that provide transportation to small children will be able to anchor child safety seats to the bus seat,” he said.

Rieger noted the Province of Ontario already provides transportation to children less than 4 years of age and that “other provinces are talking about doing this. We want to be proactive, we can’t wait for the numbers, and we want to offer added safety benefits to small children,” he said.

Charlie MacDonald, a former school superintendent in Nova Scotia, discussed “The Driver’s Role in the Student’s Lives” and how the school bus driver affects the lives and academic success of his or her young riders. He said, “Drivers can have a profound effect on those they serve.”

Chuck Beaudry, chair of the Canadian Standards Association D250 Technical Committee, made a presentation on the current process of developing standards for a multi-function school activity bus. The MSFAB is an alternative to 12-15 passenger vans that currently transport infants and toddlers from home to daycare, pre-school, junior kindergarten and related activities.

Meanwhile, the Association of School Transportation Supervisors of British Columbia voted to join the National Association for Pupil Transportation in the United States. “We want to take on an NAPT state membership,” said Frank Maresco, immediate past president of the association. He said discussions have been held with other provinces becoming state members too and “forming a subsidiary of NAPT in Canada.” Maresco said he has discussed the matter with NAPT officials. He hopes to bring the matter up at an executive meeting of the NAPT Board of Directors during the STN EXPO Conference in Reno this summer.

CPTN Conference
Meeting separately from the national conference, provincial directors gathered for the bi-annual meeting of the Canadian Pupil Transportation Network. The Network is the Canadian equivalent to the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) in the United States. The purpose of the group is to foster communication among top provincial officials throughout each of the provinces and territories of Canada. Directors from all but one province in Canada attended.

The Network voted to endorse two School Bus Safety Weeks in Canada. One would occur the third week of October with the same theme as School Bus Safety Week in the U.S. to ensure that a uniform school bus safety message across the United States and Canada was promoted. The second would occur the first week of February. “Some jurisdictions hold their School Bus Safety Week in February because that is when they experience the highest number of incidents,” said one provincial director. “They already believe there is lots of information about school buses and school bus safety in the fall at the start of the school year.”

In Canada, School Bus Safety Week is exclusively a provincial event. There is no effort to get federal recognition for the safety week.

The Network also voted to hold the 5th Canadian Pupil Transportation Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, April 20-23, 2008, with the sixth conference to be held in Ontario in 2010.

Powell is the chair of the Canadian Pupil Transportation Network.

Source: School Transportation News, July 2006. All rights reserved.