Thursday, November 22, 2012

SD #27 gets 16 new School Buses

Courtesy of the Province of BC:

B.C. school buses travel over 33 million kilometres each year, the equivalent of 43 round trips to the moon.

As part of its annual fleet renewal program, government is providing $14 million for 37 school districts around the province to purchase a total of 125 new buses.

Once again this year, the Ministry of Education has negotiated bulk pricing agreements with school bus vendors. Bulk pricing was introduced by government for the first time last year and resulted in savings of 10 to 15 per cent. Previously, school districts negotiated bus pricing individually. Contractors, Independent schools and First Nations schools also are able to take advantage of the bulk pricing agreements.

B.C. student transportation services cost more than $90 million annually. Approximately 1,200 buses are owned and operated by school districts, and another 600 school buses are operated by contractors. Buses are regularly replaced when they reach certain milestones in years or kilometres driven.

Don McRae, BC's Minister of Education says:

“Renewing our fleet of buses helps to keep students safe and lower our carbon emissions. By pooling our purchasing power across school districts, we can negotiate better prices and direct those savings into classrooms.”

The Cariboo-Chilcotin School District #27 will be receiving 16 new School Buses at a total cost of $1,710,242 which makes it the largest investment, by School District, out of the total $14 million that the province is spending to replace 125 buses throughout BC

No comments: