Bus stops being reviewed

NOVA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT — Providing safe locations for bus stops for students is an ongoing priority for the Nova Central School District.

Bus stops are reviewed on an ongoing basis, and when potential problems are identified the situation is immediately looked at.

“We’ve identified a number of bus stops in our district that caused us some concern with regard to visibility and safety,” said Paul Matheson, manager of Student Transportation with the school district. “This may have been brought to our attention from Provincial Works and Services, or our own observations, or our bus drivers concerns.”

While Mr. Matheson did not comment on specific bus stops that are under review, he said there are several throughout the district that they are checking into. He said that as traffic increases in volume and as speeds increase in some areas, the placement of bus stops needs to be reviewed.

“Lewisporte is a busy town, like Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor — all of these communities are growing and there is more traffic,” he said. “Even in the smaller communities without as much traffic, be aware school is starting and allow a few extra minutes to drive to work because vehicles have to stop for our buses when lights are flashing.”

It was also noted that people are moving into areas that are outside of various town boundaries.

“So people may be asking for bus stops on busy roadways, but we can’t always put a bus stop in these areas – we won’t put a bus stop in an area that is not safe,” he said. “Just because a person lives in a certain area – if we deem that location not safe and does not comply with our guidelines, we won’t put one there. It’s for the safety of the students absolutely.

“We have certain guidelines we need to follow. Any bus stops are outside 1.6 km from a school and we are allowed to put four bus stops within a 1.6 km area.”

Some of the factors that are taken into consideration when placing or reviewing a bus stop are visibility, adequate line of sight in both directions, speed in an area, location, and etcetera.

Mr. Matheson noted one bus stop that had to be removed last year.

“As you enter Loon Bay from Boyd’s Cove, there was a bus stop located just as you come around a blind turn, coming from an 80 km zone into a 50 zone,” he explained. “We had to move that last year. It’s just not safe with all the truck traffic and vehicular traffic – a motorist would not have time to respond.”

Right now the areas of concern for bus stops are located primarily on main roads in communities throughout the district.

“All the bus stops are a priority, but the ones we are reviewing first are on the main roads,” said Mr. Matheson. “We are also working closely with Works and Services – they have been very cooperative – there’s been brush cutting done in some areas to improve visibility.”

Mr. Matheson said schools throughout the district are being asked to communicate to parents any changes to bus stops.

“It’s a huge district and this all takes time,” he said.

Any changes will be in place before the start of the new school year next Wednesday. It was noted though that other changes could occur throughout the school year if safety concerns are presented for any bus stops.

Bus stop safety

As students prepare to return to school, Mr. Matheson encourages parents to teach and refresh the rules pertaining to bus stops with their children. He offered up some tips on how to be safe at a bus stop.

Parents are responsible for their children at the bus stop and to get them there safely. Mr. Matheson said children should be taught proper behaviour at a bus stop that includes no pushing, shoving or horseplay.

Also, children need to stay clear of the roadway when a bus is approaching the bus stop. Stand in a single line and board the bus in an orderly fashion.

Another tip parents should ensure is that their children are taught that they should not be at a bus stop any longer than five minutes prior to a bus arriving.

“There’s been areas where children are there 15 or 20 minutes before the bus,” he said. “Children are children and if they are there that length of time they are going to be active and running around and things like that, and that leads to issues on the roadways.”

For children heading off to Kindergarten and those in primary grades, it is recommended to take your child to their bus stop before the first day of school and make them familiar with the safety rules. Mr. Matheson also advises parents to stay with their younger children at the bus stop until they board the bus, and to be there to pick them up at the end of the day at the bus stop. There’s no exact age for when a parent stops accompanying their child to the bus stop. Mr. Matheson said that is at the discretion of individual parents and when they feel comfortable with their child being responsible enough to be safe at a bus stop without an adult accompanying them.

Just as parents and children need to be aware of bus stop safety, motorists should also use caution around school buses and bus stops.

In addition to what parents teach their children about school bus safety, bus drivers and teachers will also help in teaching them how to be safe. Each fall emergency bus evacuations are also conducted with students.

New buses

The school district has 22 new 2011 school buses that will take to the roads this school year. The buses have been distributed throughout the district. There are a total of 182 buses in the Nova Central School District fleet.

The new buses look a bit different than the traditional buses with more window glass area in the front to give drivers better visibility, the lights are a bit different in the front and the seats inside are also different. Another new feature is AM/FM radio.

“Drivers have told me over the years that they use that as a tool to encourage good behaviour,” said Mr. Matheson. “The music would be on low. It would not be a distraction to the driver since there is no speaker in close to the driver. On long bus rides in the morning and home in the evening it is an option.”

There is a formula in place for replacement of school buses. For example, in 2007 there were 45 new buses. This year they are getting rid of all the 1997 buses and next year all the 1998 models will be replaced.

“Pretty much every year we get new buses to replace aging ones,” he said.

With the bus stop review, new buses and safety training for children, bus stop safety is an obvious priority, but it is one that requires cooperation from all involved.

“We want our children to be safe and it’s everyone’s responsibility,” Mr. Matheson stressed. “It’s the motoring public, it’s the parents, it’s ours (school district), it’s suppliers of transportation, it’s schools – we all have to work together to ensure our children are safe. That’s our number one goal.”