Queensland school bus operators are being encouraged to apply for seatbelt funding
Applications to the Seatbelts on Regional School Buses program close on June 11.
Queensland regional school bus operators are being encouraged to apply for funding to install seatbelts on vehicles to improve the safety of children.
Operators are now able to apply for funding from the Seatbelts on Regional School Buses programme, which supports families and communities where school buses operate on high-speed non-metropolitan roads.
The programme offers eligible operators up to $25,000 of Australian Government funding per bus to subsidise the cost of fitting seatbelts to new buses or retrofitting existing buses.
Australian Government Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Jamie Briggs says school bus safety is one of the areas targeted in the National Road Safety Strategy 2011–2020, which aims to significantly reduce deaths and serious injuries resulting from road crashes.
“Thousands of children in regional Australia rely on buses to get them safely to and from their schools every day, often travelling long distances on high-speed roads.”
Bus operators with a state or territory government contract to provide services on recognised regional school bus routes can apply for funding.
Applications to the Seatbelts on Regional School Buses program close June 11.