Government has adopted a comprehensive new strategy to guide school bus safety, advised Education and Early Childhood Minister Gerard Greenan in the Legislature today. The new strategy includes:
• the purchase of 33 new school buses to be delivered by September
• regulations to ensure that buses in the active fleet are no more than 12 years old
• further implementation of a comprehensive preventive maintenance program
• and, a detailed capital plan to ensure the purchase of new buses in future years
“We are taking action on all of these fronts to address immediate issues and to ensure school bus safety in the future,” said Minister Greenan.
Cabinet approved an order this week for the purchase of 33 new school buses at a cost of $2.6 million. These buses will be delivered by September 2008. They are in addition to the 24 new buses that arrived in P.E.I. last week.
The purchase of these 57 new buses means that by September, over 20 per cent of buses in the active fleet will be brand new, and 94 per cent of active buses will be 10 years old or newer.
Cabinet has asked the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to draft regulations under the School Act that will require active buses to be no more than 12 years old by September 2008. “Through the new strategy we are taking substantive action to immediately reduce the age of the fleet, to regulate the age of buses and to ensure that buses are appropriately replaced in the future,” said the minister.
An enhanced school bus inspection and preventive maintenance program will continue to be implemented by the Department of Transportation and Public Works to ensure that buses are kept in good condition, both mechanically and structurally.
Minister Greenan acknowledged with appreciation the outstanding support received from parents, teachers and government employees over the past week. “With their tremendous cooperation we were able to keep students in school, complete a thorough inspection of our buses, and develop a comprehensive strategy that will ensure school bus safety in the future,” he said.