School buses in 3 districts get mobile radio system upgrade

New Brunswick has updated some of itsfleet of school buses in time for the start of the school year to make them safer and more accessible.

This year, all the buses in Anglophone School Districts East, West and Southwill be equipped with new radio systemsthat will hook them into the revamped system that police, fire, ambulance and emergency measures now use.

They are more reliable, and with a much greater range.

Those districts had invested in the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure's $22-million upgrade to the province's trunk mobile radio system and DTI replaced the old radios in 567 buses with the new system.

Daniel Wishart, the head of transportation for the Anglophone West School District, said the radio system will be useful if a bus ever needs to be evacuated in the event of an emergency.

The province also has 10 new accessible buses, which are distributed across the districts based on need.

They feature an extra emergency exit on the side,an automatic ramp for loading students using wheelchairs and seats that are higher with more padding.

A couple of seats in the front feature something resembling a seatbelt.

"It's basically for students 45 pounds or lighter," Wishart said.

"They're not mandatory for use in the province ...at the request of the parent we'll put them into operation," said Wishart.

"They sit on this, similar to a booster seat in a car. They would get buckled in, basically the same as they would in a car."