All pupil transport vehicles must soon have unique, conspicuous branding to be easily identified by traffic law enforcers and other road users.
The vehicles must also be fitted with security features such as anti-hijacking or anti-theft devices, and drivers must undergo advanced driving and first-aid training.
The Department of Transport revealed these tough traffic regulations when presenting its progress report to Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport yesterday.
Since the advent of democracy in 1994, the government has sought to address the problem of access to education, but the journey to school is characterised by long travel times, unsafe vehicles, and exposure to adverse weather and traffic-related dangers for many pupils.
Last year, Gauteng Education MEC Barbara Creecy revealed that at least 200 buses in the province’s scholar transport programme were not roadworthy.
CRACKING DOWN
Yesterday, deputy director-general of public transport Mathabatha Mokonyama said the government would crack down on unauthorised and unroadworthy vehicles that ferried pupils to school without road permits.
Under the proposed regulations, all dedicated, contracted and non-contracted scholar transport vehicles would be subjected to vigorous traffic tests to ensure they adhered to the public traffic law requirements.
“Exposure to external factors that may pose a threat to the safety of scholars must be minimised,” Mokonyama said.
“The security of scholars must address factors such as hijackings, violence and other potential life-threatening incidents. These include emergency numbers, tracking devices, livery, and the display of operating permits and unique branding.”
He added that provincial departments of transport must ensure they register and license transport operators, and keep a database of all learner-transport operators.
Mokonyama said drivers and pupils would also have to adhere to a code of conduct that would contain, among others, dealing with non-complying drivers; procedures for drivers; and responses to emergencies, including accidents, theft, hijackings and when a scholar is seriously ill.
Mokonyama said the payment of learner-transport operators would be based on kilometres travelled as opposed to the number of pupils. This, he said, was to ensure uniformity in payment throughout the country.
-The Star