School buses
Our First Student operations in the UK are pioneering a new approach to school travel. We don’t only provide vehicles to transport children to school but provide an entire travel package designed with the safety of children as the first priority.
What makes our service unique?
Unlike in the US, the UK government does not set standards for school bus design. However our buses are designed to the highest safety standards. Vehicle safety features include padded seating, three point integrated seat belts, additional escape hatches and CCTV. We also provide a dedicated hotline for parents.
All our drivers are specifically trained to work with children and have passed stringent background checks. Drivers are trained to look for potential bullying problems. They are also trained in First Aid and evacuation methods. A supervisor is responsible for the day-to-day running of the service and parents are provided with a hotline number to contact if they have any concerns. We know who is on our buses by keeping daily morning and afternoon registers. This helps with combating truancy.
Since our first yellow school bus scheme was introduced in West Yorkshire in 2002 we have introduced a further 20 schemes across the UK with over 200 buses carrying over 10,000 students every day.
Customer satisfaction
In our most recent customer survey we received a 98% overall customer satisfaction rating of 98%. 96% of customers feel safer using First Student services and 94% would be willing to recommend the service to others.
The Yellow School Bus Commission
Despite the obvious benefits of yellow school bus type services, funding issues are inhibiting large scale roll out. The higher specification of the buses including enhanced safety features and specialist driver training requirements mean yellow school bus type buses come at higher cost.
This year we established a Yellow School Bus Commission headed by the Rt. Hon.David Blunkett MP to investigate this issue. The Commission has been set up to examine and quantify the potential benefits of yellow school bus style dedicated home-to-school transport and look at ways to bridge the funding gap. Although assisted by First which supplies support marketing, website and exhibition materials, the Commission is entirely independent. The University of Aberdeen is a vital partner providing academic research.
In the winter of 2007 the Commission conducted a tour across the country to hear what people think about home-to-school transport and about yellow school bus services in particular. The comments received from parents, teachers, children and road users will be used to inform the Commission’s report that will be published in 2008. The six members of the Commission visited yellow school bus initiatives already in place, to obtain feedback from users and interested parties. They will also review the yellow school bus model in the United States. The tour visited 30 key towns and cities across the UK and received questionnaire responses both through the tour and online.
David Blunkett says, “We want this to be well researched and ensure that we have had a whole variety of views. The report will have salience for local and national government. Then we want real discussion with the Local Government Association and schools to encourage this.”