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Upcoming 2020 OSBA Webinar Dates
 OSBA conducts 4-5 webinars per year to assist in educating and informing members of timely and pertinent industry issues and initiatives. These webinars provide excellent learning opportunities for school bus operators, transportation consortia, and supplier/manufacturer owners and staff from the comfort and convenience of individual offices, homes or anywhere with a computer and internet! These educational opportunities are offered on a complimentary basis to all OSBA members.
Mark Your Calendar:
- February 12, 2020
- March 25, 2020
- May 27, 2020
- October 7, 2020
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2020 OSBA Membership Renewals
 The 2020 OSBA membership renewals have been distributed individually to each member. Sincere thanks to all members who supported and participated in OSBA in 2019 and in previous years. Membership fees enable the Association to continue providing professional and valuable products and services to all members. If you haven't completed your 2020 online renewal information as yet, it would be much appreciated if you could do so by February 28, 2020. Thank you very much.
Questions/details, please contact Katie Heyworth at info@osba.on.ca
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Distracted Driving Videos from Sudbury Student Services Consortium
The Sudbury Student Services Consortium (SSSC) recently created some impactful videos to remind motorists that distracted driving affects the safety of all students.
To view the full English video, click here.
To view the full French video, click here.
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OTE 2020 Registration Now Open!
As most members are aware, the Ontario Transportation Expo (OTE) is a joint conference and trade show organized each year by representatives from the Ontario Motor Coach Association (OMCA), the Ontario Public Transit Association (OPTA) and the Ontario School Bus Association (OBSA) as a unique opportunity for bus company employees, manufacturer/supplier organizations  and others related to the bus transportation industry, to get together and explore better ways of serving their transportation customers in the future.
OTE 2020 will take place April 19th – 22nd in Toronto (ON), with the trade show happening Tuesday April 21st at the International Centre. The conference hotel will once again be the Delta Hotels Toronto Airport & Conference Centre. OTE registration is now open. To register for OTE, click here. Also, keep checking the OTE website at www.ote.ca for updates!
For further information please contact the OSBA Safety and Legislation Team – abugeya@osba.on.ca or 416-695-9965 Ext. 4 or contact OTE directly at 416-229-6622 – info@ote.ca
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First Student Acquires Two Campeau Bus Lines Locations to Grow Canadian Operations
Full Article: First Student Inc.
Article Date: January 17, 2020
First Student, North America’s leader in student transportation, announced that it signed an agreement to acquire the Campeau Bus Lines locations in Ottawa and Bowmanville, subject to school boards and consortia approvals to transfer contracts. Campeau is an Ontario-based provider of school and charter transportation services. The deal extends First Student’s operations in Ontario, where the company currently has nearly 40 locations. More than 200,000 Ontario students ride First Student buses each school day.
 “First Student continues to grow through acquisitions, and Campeau Bus Lines is a longtime, well-respected transportation provider. They have a great team of drivers and staff who share in our mission to provide safe and reliable transportation,” said First Student President Paul Osland. “We will continue to execute our growth strategy and search for opportunities to use our resources, insight and expertise to benefit school systems, students and families across North America.”
Campeau Bus Lines was founded in 1961. Its Ottawa and Bowmanville locations serve five school consortia with a fleet of more than 500 buses.
“First Student is the clear industry leader, and we are confident they can build on our success in Ottawa and Bowmanville,” said Campeau Bus Lines President Jacques Campeau. “Our employees and customers will benefit from First Student’s ability to leverage best practices, technologies and processes to deliver forward-thinking transportation solutions.”
The acquisition is the second for First Student in four months. In October 2019, the company acquired Hopewell Transportation, a Chicagoland-based provider of school transportation services for special needs students and their families.
The acquisition is expected to close in February. Terms were not disclosed.
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New Medical Clinic on Wheels Improves Healthcare Access at High Schools
Full Article: Calgary Herald
Article Date: January 21, 2020
 With the launch of a new medical clinic on wheels in Calgary (AB), more vulnerable youth and homeless adults will receive much-needed physical and mental health care. In expanding its Health for Good program, Telus Health partnered with The Alex health centre to fund a new community bus that acts as a fully-equipped medical clinic, staffed with a doctor, nurse practitioner and social worker. The Alex has been offering mobile health care for almost 20 years but the new bus will extend its reach to six more high schools.
According to the Calgary Homeless Foundation’s 2018 point-in-time homeless count, approximately 11 per cent of the city’s homeless population are under the age of 18. Youth homelessness is difficult to document, though, because youth are more likely to stay with friends or family or couch surf. “A lot of these kids don’t have the funds, time or freedom to go to medical clinics outside of the youth bus. We’ve been told many times by these kids that if we didn’t come to them, they wouldn’t have access to these services,” said Putnam.
 A health bus parked outside a kid’s school can break down any barriers that child faces in getting necessary health care, said Ange Neil who received mental health support from The Alex while experiencing some homelessness as a teenager. “Having a new and clean bus like this tells the youth that are using it that they matter, they’re important and they deserve good health care. You’re not getting leftover health care because you’re young or can’t afford it,” Neil said.
The Alex’s youth bus currently travels to eight high schools in the city and had 4,621 visits during the 2018-19 school year. The new health bus will also stop at the Drop-In Centre, YWCA, the Dream Centre and Tsuut’ina Nation. “We go to where communities need us and where people need access to good quality health care, which they don’t feel comfortable accessing at other places,” said The Alex CEO Joy Bowen-Eyre.
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2020 P.R.I.D.E. Program Dates
 Please see below for the 2020 Professional Instructor in Driver Education (P.R.I.D.E.) Program dates. For over 30 years, the P.R.I.D.E. Program has been providing fleet driver instructors with powerful, non-lecture adult training techniques and philosophies that resonate with new and seasoned drivers to encourage and sustain safe commercial vehicle driving habits.
2020 Regular P.R.I.D.E. Certification Program:
View the full 2020 Program Brochure here
View the 2020 Registration Form here
- February 9-14
- March 15-20 (March break)
- May 3-8
- July 12-17
- August 9-14
- October 18-23
- November 22-27
- December 6-11
2020 P.R.I.D.E. Recertification Program:
View the full 2020 Recertification Program Brochure here
View the 2020 Recertification Registration Form here
- April 15
- June 6
- August 15
- October 7
For questions or more information - please visit http://www.osba.on.ca/programs or contact info@osba.on.ca
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National School Transportation Association (NSTA) Releases School Bus Safety Promotional Video
Full Article: School Transportation News
Article Date: January 9, 2020
The nation’s school bus contractor association has released a one-minute video that promotes school bus safety and focuses on the dangers of illegal passing by other motorists.
The video, “NSTA: You Never Travel Alone,” includes clips from the 2019 National School Transportation Association Fall Technology Showcase. The event was hosted on Oct. 23, 2019 in Washington, D.C., by NSTA and Safe Fleet/Seon.
The video promotes initiatives that focus on timely issues that impact the industry.
The 2019 NSTA Fall Technology Showcase featured live demonstrations of various technology solutions to prevent stop-arm violations. These included a school bus that was equipped with a predictive stop-arm, a crossing guard school bus stop-arm enforcement system that involves camera technology with an auto-ticketing feature, and a rear driver alert device.
NSTA President John Benish, Jr. of Cook-Illinois Corporation, attributed the growing number of illegal passing to distracted driving. He said people are not paying attention. But he pointed to new radar technology from Safe Fleet that detects if a motorist will not stop, that is one of the new solutions that will help motorists, students, and bus drivers alike be more aware of their surroundings.
In addition to promoting illegal passing violation enforcement, the video also features STOP Act 2019 sponsors Congresswomen Jackie Walorski of Indiana and Julia Brownley of California. The STOP for School Buses Act of 2019 (STOP Act), which is sponsored by 56 house representatives and 13 senate representatives from across the nation, addresses safety measures and programs that can prevent illegal passing of school buses.
The Bill calls for the U.S. Department of Transportation to review state laws that address illegal passing, and research illegal passing and distracted driving. The bill also calls for DOT to create a nationwide public safety campaign to highlight the importance of illegally passing school buses and review various technologies to enhance school bus safety.
“We continue to make significant in-roads toward enactment of the STOP Act, and this video highlights a portion of the progress that we’ve made,” stated NSTA Executive Director Curt Macysyn. “We hosted a great event in conjunction with our trusted partner, Safe Fleet/Seon, and brought attention to the folks on Capitol Hill of the technological advances in the area of school bus safety. We look forward to continuing the positive momentum and encourage school bus contractors around the country to join us in the effort.”
To view the "NSTA: You Never Travel Alone" video, click here.
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School Board Pushes for Extended Stop Arms on Buses
Full Article: Coast Reporter
Article Date: January 13, 2020
School District No.46 (SD46) in Gibsons (BC) wants to see school buses outfitted with extended stop arms to improve safety. At the Jan. 8, 2020 regular school board meeting, trustees voted to send a motion to the BC School Trustees Association (BCSTA) that would see the association advocate to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to amend the Motor Vehicle Act to allow for the use of extended stop arms on school buses.
 Currently, the fleet uses a stop sign that extends from the driver’s side of the bus when stationary, as well as flashing red lights, to alert traffic. An extended stop arm would also be positioned on the driver’s side with a stop sign attached but would extend partway across the road and act as a physical barrier preventing cars from passing a bus when utilized, according to SD46.
The motion will be reviewed by the BCSTA and with their approval, would be forwarded to the province for consideration. “It basically would set provincial advocacy direction for the BCSTA,” said secretary-treasurer Nicholas Weswick at the meeting.
The extended stop arm functions as a physical barrier to prevent cars from passing school buses. They have yet to be approved for use in B.C. Amending the Motor Vehicle Act would open up the possibility for their use province-wide.
School bus safety has been an ongoing issue for the current school board. The district is also researching the use of dash cams on school buses after parents in Pender Harbour raised concerns that vehicles were passing school buses when stopped to pick up children. According to Weswick, “Our current task is selecting cameras that will collect high-quality images without being permanently installed into the contractor’s bus fleet.”
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12th Canadian Pupil Transportation Conference (CPTC) - 2020 Registration is Now Open
April 27-May 1, 2020 - Kelowna, BC
Registration is now open for the upcoming 2020 Canadian Pupil Transportation Conference (CPTC) – April 27-May 1, 2020. The registration link can be found - here.
“Our Vision is 2020” is the theme of the 12th Canadian Pupil Transportation Conference (CPTC) being held at the Delta Grand Okanagan Hotel and Resort in Kelowna, BC, Canada.
A variety of current and informative sessions are being arranged for delegates, with presenters from across Canada and the United States.
To Register: Click Here
Accommodation Information: Click Here
Exhibitor Information: Click Here
Daily Workshops and Activities: Click Here
For more further information please visit www.cptc2020.ca or email CPTC at info@cptc2020.ca to sign up and receive conference updates.
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Order Your OSBA Publications Now!
Visit the OSBA website at www.osba.on.ca and click on the "STORE" tab from the home page to order the following OSBA publications. Or click on the links below and go directly to each order form:
Once you have completed the necessary order form, please scan/email it to info@osba.on.ca or fax it to 416-695-9977.
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