Thousands of children in Northern Ireland to receive bus safety advice

Translink has unveiled a new Safety Bus to continue the important safety education programme which has been running in schools in Northern Ireland for over 15 years.
Translinks new Safety Bus can visit approximately 350 schools, or up to 25 thousand students, across Northern Ireland each academic year. Pictured at Aquinas Diocesan Grammar School in Belfast are Year 8 student Sarah McWilliams; Kevin Wallace, Safety Bus; Year 8 pupil Hannah Wilson; Sean McGreevy, Metro Falls Service Delivery Manager; Erin Watson, Year 8 student ; Susan ONeill, Safety Bus; and Year 8 students Oscar Feron and Kate McWilliamsTranslinks new Safety Bus can visit approximately 350 schools, or up to 25 thousand students, across Northern Ireland each academic year. Pictured at Aquinas Diocesan Grammar School in Belfast are Year 8 student Sarah McWilliams; Kevin Wallace, Safety Bus; Year 8 pupil Hannah Wilson; Sean McGreevy, Metro Falls Service Delivery Manager; Erin Watson, Year 8 student ; Susan ONeill, Safety Bus; and Year 8 students Oscar Feron and Kate McWilliams
Translinks new Safety Bus can visit approximately 350 schools, or up to 25 thousand students, across Northern Ireland each academic year. Pictured at Aquinas Diocesan Grammar School in Belfast are Year 8 student Sarah McWilliams; Kevin Wallace, Safety Bus; Year 8 pupil Hannah Wilson; Sean McGreevy, Metro Falls Service Delivery Manager; Erin Watson, Year 8 student ; Susan ONeill, Safety Bus; and Year 8 students Oscar Feron and Kate McWilliams

The Safety Bus can visit approximately 350 schools, or up to 25 thousand students, each academic year - and demand is high.

Metro Falls Service Delivery Manager Sean McGreevy said: “The new Safety Bus plays a vital role in educating students about safe bus use. It will also play a key role in educating students about correct use of the new Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) hybrid vehicles, which will be launched next September”.

He added: “The Safety Bus is dedicated to visiting primary and secondary schools in order to highlight the safe use of public transport. We are also introducing an education programme on the new BRT system, including the features of the state-of-the-art new ‘Glider’ vehicles, the stops; and buying tickets.”

Translink Community Safety Officer Susan O’Neill said: “We educate students on safety features on buses, including the importance of wearing seatbelts and the reason for on board CCTV and we use a range of videos and education packs to bring issues such as anti-social behaviour and vandalism and their effects to life.

“We also address general bus etiquette including signalling for the driver to stop, letting people get off the bus first, respecting other passengers, putting tickets in the bin, not putting bags on seats, moving up the bus to create space at the front and where to stand in preparation for disembarking” she concluded.

The Safety Bus is a regular visitor to Aquinas Diocesan Grammar School in Belfast. Year 8 head Emma Smyth said: “Our pupils love the interactive and interesting way that the Safety Bus team demonstrates safe use of buses, the safety features on board and how best to represent your school when getting a public bus. It is a fantastic experience for Year 8s and we look forward to continuing this positive relationship with the Safety Bus team in the future.”

The Safety Bus team works closely with schools and other agencies, including the PSNI, to provide safety education to school children across Northern Ireland. Further information about bus safety can be found on the Translink website