Five 76-passenger buses will join the fleet of School District Kamloops/ Thompson (SD 73) at a value of $499,749 as the Province distributes $10.5 million to 32 school districts to replace old buses in their fleets.
About 100 buses will be purchased and this year, for the first time, the ministry and the Association of Student Transportation Services of BC negotiated fixed prices from multiple B.C. vendors, to help save approximately 15 per cent on bus replacements.
This allows districts to choose from different vendors and purchase buses at the most competitive prices, regardless of where they are in the province. The same offers are also available to independent and band-operated schools so they can save on bus orders.
Every school bus is designed to meet safety standards set out by Transport Canada, the Canadian Standards Association and the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. School buses must also pass routine inspections by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Forty-six school districts in British Columbia own and operate more than 1,000 school buses.
In total, B.C. school buses travel approximately 180,000 kilometres each school day.
Transport Canada research shows school bus travel to be 16 times safer than travelling in a family car.