Executive Summary

Canada’s bus safety record is extremely good - over the past decade, bus passengers comprised fewer than 0.3% of road fatalities. Nonetheless, bus passenger safety is an ongoing concern of Transport Canada, provincial and territorial governments, and the public.Bus safety in Canada is a shared responsibility. Transport Canada generally is responsible for new vehicle safety standards, and for the safe movement of interprovincial buses - which responsibility it largely delegates to provinces in view of their historic enforcement and licensing responsibilities.

As part of its ongoing program, Transport Canada recently conducted a review of current bus safety research and regulations. This review included consultations to seek input from stakeholders.

Between June 1999 and June 2000, Transport Canada (assisted by its provincial and territorial partners, the Institute on Governance, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers) held regional consultations on school bus and motor coach safety. About 180 persons participated in the sessions held in Victoria, B.C., Moncton, N.B., Lloydminster, AB, Winnipeg, MB, Toronto, ON, and Quebec City, QC. Participants included representatives of the travelling public; school administrations; bus owners, operators and manufacturers; and government officials.

The consultations sought input on a wide range of safety issues, including the installation and use of seat belts in school buses and motor coaches. The consensus results of the sessions indicated that the installation of seat belts in buses was not a priority issue. Other major safety themes raised concerned safety devices (such as school bus mirrors and crossing gates); driver issues (for example, training and recruitment); and the regulatory regime itself (e.g. respecting smaller vehicles; seating capacity; and the lack of national consistency).

An electronic online consultation component was used to provide an open forum for interested citizens and to supplement the face to face sessions. All reports were posted on the site, and are available at http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/bus/consultations/menu.htm

A summary report including suggested next steps follows. The report also contains responses subsequently developed by senior federal and provincial officials involved in the consultations. Governments and stakeholders will be assessing the report over the coming months.

You can view the full report in PDF here. To view PDF documents you must use Adobe® Acrobat Reader. Visit the Adobe site to download the latest, free version.

If you need an alternative format or for more information, please contact us by e-mail at RoadSafetyWebMail@tc.gc.ca or call toll free 1-800-333-0371 (Ottawa area (613) 998-8616).