School Bus Trails in China

A trial school bus program is making it possible for primary school children from more than six cities and counties in China to get to their classes safely. In the past, these students, especially those living in rural areas, had to take agricultural vehicles or some illegally operated vehicles to school. After some tragic traffic accidents involving primary school students in recent years, the government has decided they had to provide a safer way for children to get to school.

Let's take a closer look with reporter Liu Min.

Zhang Yinhuan is a fifth-grade school student who lives in Qiandian Village in Shangdong Province. She lives with her grandparents, because her parents are migrant workers in big cities. During the days when there were no school buses, Zhang had to ride a bike five kilometers to school every day. Her 75-year-old grandfather says he and Zhang's grandmother always worried about her safety.

"There are so many cars on the roads, and we were really concerned about her all the time. When it was time for her to come home, we would stare at the alley's entrance until she showed up."

But with the start of the new school year, the school's new bus now picks up the students. Eleven-year-old Zhang points at her seat on the bus and says,

"Now I don't need to ride my bike anymore. My grandparents no longer need to worry about me. The bus is quite spacious and comfortable. Look! This is my seat, with my name tag on the seatback."

In Deqing County of Zhejiang Province, the most eye-catching vehicles on the road are the orange-yellow school buses. Local primary school students have nicknamed them "bumblebees," a moniker they borrowed from the movie "Transformers." Eighty bumblebees are responsible for transporting more than 5,000 primary school students in the county to school and back home.

In the past, Yucai primary school has over one thousand students. Its few old buses could only carry 19 students a time each. Teachers who escorted the students on the buses had to make the trip more than 10 times every day. But now each teacher only has to make one trip a day.

The local government invested 20 million yuan in the school bus trial project. Students from Yucai school never expected to go to school on what seems to them to be high-standard vehicles.

"It usually takes me 30 minutes to go to school on foot, and sometimes my mom takes me by electric bike. The big bus is very comfortable for me."
With the local government subsidizing much of the funding for the project, every student now only needs to pay two yuan a day for the bus service. Children from poor families can have their bus fees waived.

Will the investment bring a higher level of transportation safety? School bus driver Li Yajun from Deqing County says they have to go through a strict training program organized by the government once every two months to ensure they operate the buses safely.

"I've been driving school bus for two years. I'm proud that I can bring the children to school safely every day. When it comes to rainy days like today, I usually arrive a few minutes earlier and wait for the kids to get onboard."

As part of the safety measures, average school bus speeds must be less than 50 kilometers per hour. Every school bus is equipped with cameras. Students have a card that they scan on a card reader every time they get on and off the bus. The scanner sends an instantaneous short message to their parents' mobile phones.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.