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Shore Shore to pilot school bus safety measure

Three people stand in front of a school bus
L-R: Denise Crouse, Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Becky Druhan and SSRCE Regional Executive Director Paul Ash. Photo by Ed Halverson.
Ed Halverson - QCCR/CJQC - Liverpool • NS | 23-03-2022
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A new pilot project running in the South Shore aims to keep students safer when travelling to and from school. An extended stop arm has been installed on the bus serving route 245 in Hebbville to reduce red-light violations when students are entering or exiting the bus. The new arm extends 6.5 feet out from the vehicle into the oncoming traffic lane and includes two stop signs which light up when the bus is stopped.

Transportation Coordinator with South Shore Regional Centre for Education Denise Crouse says across Canada, only two other jurisdictions in BC are currently using the new arm.

“They’re seeing a huge decrease so we wanted to bring it on to the East coast to see what our data will show and what impact it will have in terms of student safety in Nova Scotia,” said Crouse.

The Hebbville bus route has the highest proportion of the 178 red light violations the SSRCE has recorded this year. The regional office will compare those numbers with data collected on the route until the end of the year to determine if more buses will receive the extended stop arm. Crouse says this pilot project builds on efforts the region has been making to improve student safety.

“We’ve had cameras on our fleet for a number of years but they’re not on our entire fleet,” said Crouse. “For this particular route we do have exterior cameras to catch the driver’s photo and capture their license plate which we need here in Nova Scotia in order to lay a charge.”

Each arm costs approximately $5,500 and is designed to break away if it is hit by a vehicle. Crouse says if the pilot shows a significant reduction in red light violations the extended arms could be installed on buses across the region in a phased approach.

“It could be something that we would do on a yearly basis, so many buses per year, as we do with our camera systems,” said Crouse.

Passing a school bus from any direction when its lights are flashing is illegal in Nova Scotia. Motorists can receive a $410 fine and a penalty of six points on their license.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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