Toronto, Ontario – A two-week safety blitz that examined 1,903 school buses found that 94 per cent met or exceeded Ontario’s safety standards. The Ministry inspected the buses for mechanical fitness, evidence of daily vehicle inspections and driver qualifications, and ordered minor repairs on 92 buses, taking 12 off the road for significant repairs.
“The safety of the province’s children who ride to school every day in a bus is of paramount importance,” said Transportation Minister Jim Bradley. “We have tough standards for school bus safety, and we will continue to enforce them. We will be meeting with the industry to discuss how we can make our children even safer.”
About 800,000 Ontario students travel in 18,000 school buses every day, covering more than 1.9 million kilometres. The province said that school buses continue to be among the safest ways for students to travel, with research showing that riding a school bus is 16 times safer than travelling in the family car. The Ministry of Transportation maintains a Web site on school bus safety at MTO.gov.on.ca.
