Students in the region will soon be riding to school in new cost-effective buses, as School District 20 has received approval for about $452,000 from the province for the purchase of two 70-passenger buses and two 84-passenger buses.
For the first time, the Association of Student Transportation Services of BC negotiated fixed prices from multiple B.C. vendors to help save approximately 15 per cent on bus
replacements. This will allow 32 school districts in the province to choose from different vendors and purchase buses at the most competitive prices.
“They have made it much more efficient by creating a kind of standard pricing with certain vendors,” said SD20 secretary-treasurer Natalie Verigin. “In the past what we used to do is every district had to go out and make their own quotes from the bus vendors themselves.”
A bylaw to receive the funding could hit the school board table this month, which must be done prior to ordering the new additions.
SD20 couldn’t provide details on the age of the buses being replaced nor the number of buses currently operated by press time.