Briefly: November 8, 2013

Bus replacements

Some students in Powell River will be riding on a brand new school bus this spring.

Powell River is one of 31 school districts this year receiving funding for new buses from Victoria. School District 47 will receive $138,991 to purchase an 84-passenger bus.

“This funding will replace the oldest bus in the fleet,” said Steve Hopkins, district secretary-treasurer. Last year the school district received funding to replace three buses and two the year before, he said.

“Basically we’ve turned over our inventory over the past five years,” he added.

Through the provincial government’s fleet renewal program, $11 million is being provided to replace 96 buses.

“These new buses will provide safe, comfortable transportation for students while lowering operating costs for districts and ensuring that these savings can be directed into classrooms,” said Peter Fassbender, minister of education, in a press release Tuesday, November 5.

This is the third year that the ministry of education has worked with the Association of School Transport Services of BC to procure buses using a standing offer pricing model which, according to the ministry, achieves the best possible pricing. Previously, school districts negotiated the purchase price of buses individually.

The criteria used to replace the buses is based on the number of years the bus has been in operation and how many kilometres it has accrued. Large capacity buses that can take 80 or more passengers have the longest lifespan and are replaced after having reached 400,000 kilometres or spending 15 years on the road. Medium-sized buses with a passenger capacity of between 34 to 76 have a lifespan of 12 years and are replaced after they reach 325,000 kilometres. Smaller capacity buses that take between 20 to 29 passengers have a lifespan of 10 years and are replaced after 250,000 kilometres.