More safety for school buses on route for the region

Transport Canada is trying to make school buses safer after a report in 2020 showed the greatest risk comes when children are outside of a bus.

It made Canada the first country to make 360-degree cameras a requirement and now all new school buses are set to have the perimeter visibility systems by late 2027. The region already has over a dozen buses with the cameras rolling around, due to an operator taking part in a pilot program.

As the region renews its fleet over the next few years, the General Manager for Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region, Benoit Bourgault, says they’ll see the new safety feature come into play.

“There has been near misses, where students were very near the wheels of the vehicle as the vehicle started moving because the driver has limited sight from their position when driving the vehicle,” said Bourgault.

He added that there has been a lot of input so far from bus drivers who have experienced the 360 cameras, popping up on a screen in their large rearview mirror.

“The feedback from the drivers has been mixed, it’s not really useful on the road. It is more useful in the bus loading zone.”

If the cameras detect movement around the bus, a square pops up in the mirror to let drivers know.

The announcement came last week by the Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, Anita Anand. Along with mandating new school buses to have cameras, it also made infraction cameras a requirement for manufacturers volunteering to install them. If someone drives by or passes a bus illegally, the infraction camera captures a photo.