Transport Canada, in cooperation with the SAAQ (Quebec Automobile Insurance Corporation) and Transports Quebec (MTQ), and with the support of Groupe Cartier and Les Consultants GCnicom, has completed the first phase of a study whose final objective is to develop an evaluation grid for school bus safety aids. Phase I was specifically aimed at identifying and weighting criteria to be used to evaluate child detection aids. The aids considered improve a driver’s chance of detecting school children while they are getting on and off the bus and thus increase the children’s safety.

After identifying the school bus problem, reviewing the main technologies available, conducting a study of the driver’s duties, and analysing the risks of school bus accidents, a number of criteria were selected to evaluate the aids under consideration.

Twenty-one main criteria in five major categories were identified. The categories are the reduction/elimination of the risks of an accident (safety criteria), the impact on the driver’s duties and the interface with the children (ergonomic criteria), the cost of the aid and the school bus service (economic criteria), the noise and visual distractions (environmental criteria), and the aid’s performance and technical reliability (technical criteria). These criteria have been incorporated into a preliminary evaluation grid. The grid will be validated in Phase II of the project.