Jammed school buses spark safety worries for students

Students are being crushed, falling over and are at risk of serious injury due to crowding on school buses, parents and children say.

Students fill every available spot on this bus as they head to school.

STUDENTS are being crushed, falling over and are at risk of serious injury due to crowding on school buses, parents and children say.

There are 12 school buses catering for more than 1000 Taroona High School students.

The school’s Metro buses are running at over capacity with many students forced to pack into “no standing” sections of the bus as other students cling to railings.

Students and parents have expressed safety concerns about the services and said they fear the overstretched bus links are a “disaster waiting to happen”.

Grade 9 student Frida Elliott said she counted 108 children on one of the school’s articulated buses — five people more than the 103-person capacity.

“Couple that with the 108 backpacks on each student’s back and it’s seriously overcrowded on-board and unsafe,” she said.

“On most days there is a lot more people than that as well, and it’s causing students to fall over and bruise themselves as a result. Something really needs to change.”

Frida’s mother, Sarah Elliott, said she was scared her daughter and other students would be seriously hurt.

“I’m finding it really stressful. It’s obviously very dangerous and I’m told the school can’t get more buses,” she said.

“Kids are getting kicked off the bus which is leaving them with no way home. It’s quite concerning how overfilled these buses are but more alarming that students are being hurt as a result.”

Crowds of Taroona High School students wait to board buses.

Rail Tram and Bus Union Tasmania secretary Jody Nichols said the union had written to the Government, asking for increased fleet numbers for Hobart schools.

“The overcrowding issue is a big problem for bus drivers as well as passengers because it’s skewing drivers’ visibility,” he said.

“There’s also no accurate way to gauge how many students are on school buses. Unlike public buses where passengers are counted by the selling of tickets. Drivers have to use their judgment but they don’t want to be the ones to tell a kid, no, you can’t come on-board.”

Minister for Education and Training Jeremy Rockliff said part of the solution might be to get more students on the general Metro buses.

“I have heard the concerns that have been raised around crowded school buses at Taroona High and I’m taking this matter very seriously,” he said.

“I have asked the Department of State Growth to work together with the Department of Education to look at all appropriate options to meet increased student demand for buses. In the first instance this includes exploring what can be done to provide a safer crossing opportunity for students to more fully utilise the existing general access services on Channel Highway.

“The departments will also examine the availability of buses to support additional student-only services.”