You wait ages for a bus blog and then three come along in short order. You might want to read my previous blog on the Isle of Man's government owned bus company and it's desire to buy and run bendy buses.
From Bus Vannin's original announcements it appeared that any bendy buses would be used on selective general service routes through out the Island. Although why a vehicle with a capacity of 149 passengers was needed was never explained. The latest communication from bus HQ is that they plan to use these buses on school routes, replacing two double deckers with one bendy on popular school runs. As there are 49 seats that would mean that up to 100 children could be standing at any one time. I don't think safety has been looked at with this and also the cost of running these behemoths has not been revealed.
On the safety aspect in the UK it's generally agreed that it's one child; one seat hopefully with a seatbelt although this is where legislation gets complicated (doesn't it always) what age is the vehicle? Is it a bus or a coach? The Welsh Assembly has cut through this and made it compulsory for all school buses to be fitted with seat belts from October 2014.
It might be worth any parents asking the school, education authority and bus company:
If your child is standing on a school bus, you can complain , you can ask you local authority what their safety assessment is for this procedure, [ they must have a written safety assessment for this ] as in - How safe do they think this is, a child standing with school bags etc.- What would happen if the bus were to suddenly brake, how is your child protected-What happens to your child plus their bag which in fact become a a weapon to other passengers.
I took this wording from a UK school bus website.
It will all end in flames or a traffic island
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