Pupil gets behind the wheel of his own school bus

A pupil of Ysgol Dyffryn Taf in West Wales is managing to squeeze part time work as a school bus driver into his busy schedule after passing his Public Service Vehicle driving test in August and getting behind the wheel of the coaches at his father’s coach hire company.

Sixth form student Joseff Edwards now helps out at the family coach hire company, Taf Valley Coaches, by getting into the driving seat and collecting passengers as part of the daily school run.

18-year-old Joseff drives to the coach depot each morning where he swaps his car for the school bus, picking up passengers around the Llanteg and Tavernspite area of West Wales before arriving at school at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf where he parks his school bus in the car park for the day, before getting back behind the wheel in the afternoon to drive the bus back along its route, dropping off his passengers and fellow pupils along the way.

Coach hire boss and father of Joseff, Clive Edwards, launched Taf Valley Coaches 21 years ago and now boasts a fleet of 21 vehicles which are used for school bus runs as well as private hire bookings.

Although the family said it was a bit of a surprise to have their son driving his own school bus, the sixth former is getting on extremely well balancing his career as a bus driver with his studies and his family hope it will help inspire other youngsters to get involved in the coach hire industry.

New luxurious coach service launched in North Wales

The new Shuttle + bus service has just been launched in Flintshire

Bus passengers in North Wales will be celebrating this week following the launch of a brand new luxurious transport service.

The new bus service, Shuttle +, will operate half hourly routes linking Mold, Buckley, Queensferry, Deeside Industrial Park, Cheshire Oaks, and Ellesmere Port.

Passengers will be treated to a relaxing and comfortable ride courtesy of the new fleet of buses which will be used on the routes. The state of the art vehicles feature full leather upholstery, air conditioning, and a spacious “cafe-style” interior.

Speaking at the launch of the new travel service, deputy council leader Tony Sharps described the new top of the range bus operation as “Christmas has arrived early”. As a bonus, the new fleet has been funded by North Wales transport organisation Taith, which means that taxpayers haven’t had to contribute to the new service.

Local coach hire firm, GHA Coaches are operating the new routes in Flintshire with support from the councils.

Local councillors are urging those who wouldn’t normally travel by bus to try the new Shuttle + service as the new buses are far superior to any other vehicles used on public transport routes in the area previously.

It is hoped the introduction of the new service will improve the experience of travelling by bus for frequent bus passengers, and encourage those who normally drive to give public transport a try.

Bus drivers in North Wales vote to strike over pay

Arriva bus drivers in North Wales vote 77% in favour of strike action

Arriva bus drivers in North Wales will strike if an issue over pay is not resolved. The drivers took part in a secret ballot last week, the result of which was that 77% of the drivers were in favour of staging strike action.

If the strike goes ahead hundreds of services across the North Wales region will be affected. The action will also have a knock-on effect on bus routes in the Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire area. Services in the Chester, Wrexham, Rhyl, Llandudno, Bangor, Pwllheli, Dolgellau, and Aberystwyth area will be worst hit.

The unite Union and Arriva bosses are currently in talks, with the help of the conciliation services Acas, to try and resolve the issue without strike action being taken.

A Unite spokesperson confirmed that the drivers are dissatisfied with a pay offer they have received from bus company Arriva. It’s been reported that the pay deal is considerably lower than the offer presented to bus drivers in the Merseyside and Wirral area.

Michael Morton, managing director of Arriva Buses Wales has assured passengers that the bus services will still run as advertised should the walk-out go ahead, although they are working hard behind the scenes to prevent the strike action being taken.

Movies to be screened on school buses to combat anti-social behaviour

Film showings on school buses aims to tackle anti-social behaviour

Movies are will be screened on buses in the North Wales area in a bid to combat noise on school vehicles, and to tackle problems such as bullying and anti social behaviour.

The pilot scheme is being trialled on a number of secondary school buses in North Wales areas including Denbighshire, Flintshire, Anglesey, and Gwynedd.

Bosses from GHA Coaches who operate a school bus run in Llangollen, say they have received very encouraging results so far. They’ve been screening blockbuster movies, music concerts and nature programmes onboard their school coaches. They say the drivers are now able to concentrate on the road without being distracted by rowdy behaviour from the youngsters.

The idea is that if the pupils are kept entertained on their journey home, they are less likely to commit vandalism onboard the vehicles, distract the bus driver, and indulge in other anti-social activities.

The scheme has been introduced by Zoom Project which is supported by the Welsh Assembly Government. Zoom focuses on improving the safety standards on school vehicles. The system is already in place throughout a number of school in the US, and the results have so far, been very positive.

The experiment will continue for the next 12 months, where after the results will be analysed to decided whether the scheme has had an impact on improving the behaviour of school pupils whilst travelling on buses.