1 / 19

Title: Seatbelts for Kids Subsidy Program Author: Peter Robertson Economy: Australia

Title: Seatbelts for Kids Subsidy Program Author: Peter Robertson Economy: Australia. Seatbelts for Kids Subsidy Program. 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru. 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru.

tyra
Download Presentation

Title: Seatbelts for Kids Subsidy Program Author: Peter Robertson Economy: Australia

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Title: Seatbelts for Kids Subsidy Program Author: Peter Robertson Economy: Australia

  2. Seatbelts for Kids Subsidy Program 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru Purpose: To outline the background and operation of the Seatbelts for Kids Subsidy program for regional areas of Australia.

  3. 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru In the beginning…. • Calls from various groups over the years to require schoolchildren in regional areas to wear seatbelts while travelling in school buses • The Australian Design Rules (Commonwealth regulation) require seatbelts on buses designed for coach travel • Buses designed for route services (low floor height and seatbacks below 1 metre) do not require seatbelts • School bus requirements a matter for states and territories

  4. The Problem 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • Concern among some groups that children are at risk on school buses using regional (> 80kph) routes • But statistically children very safe on buses – accidents rare; children more at risk when getting on and off buses • Would be very high cost to equip all buses with belts – in excess of $4 billion (problem for states) • But always possibility of catastrophic accident

  5. The Dynamic 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • Timing – coming to a head in mid 2007 • Local political issues

  6. Options 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • Regulate – not an option as Australian Design Rules only apply to first point of supply to the market and would never pass cost-benefit test • Subsidy scheme – very expensive – would not get through ERC in normal policy context

  7. The challenge… 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • Get program up and running in 5 days • Decide who is eligible – debate over which regions (eg ACT) and whether private schools would be included • Maintain integrity in use of public money (ANAO best practice guidelines)

  8. Seatbelts for Kids – Eligibility 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • Bus operators who have an existing contract and hold a current licensed/accredited with the state or territory government to service recognized rural and regional bus routes are eligible to apply. • Rural and regional bus services include those: • identified as high risk under the National Guidelines for Risk Assessment of School Bus Routes; or • that operate over roads that include speed limits exceeding 80km/h that fall outside metropolitan areas.

  9. Seatbelts for Kids – Subsidy 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • Bus operators may apply for up to $25,000 per bus to assist with the cost of installing the seatbelts. • $10 million dollars of funding has been made available this financial year to fit seatbelts into either new school buses, or retrofit seatbelts into existing school buses.

  10. Seatbelts for Kids – Subsidy 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • Fitment of the seatbelts: • The subsidy is to fit lap/sash (3 point) seatbelts into existing or new school buses. • For new buses the seatbelts are fitted during the manufacturing process. • For existing buses the seatbelts are retrofitted into the buses.

  11. Seatbelts for Kids – Subsidy 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • Fitment of the seatbelts: • New school buses that are fitted with seatbelts during the manufacturing process and are required to meet national standards under the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989. • Buses that are retrofitted with seatbelts are required to meet state/territory vehicle modification requirements as applicable.

  12. Seatbelts for Kids – Subsidy 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • The Government has recently announced a third round of funding.

  13. Other issues 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • Generally unpopular with operators and drivers • Tax issues • Limited opportunities for work to be done (ie can only do in school holiday downtimes)

  14. More information 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru • http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/seatbeltsforkids/index.aspx

  15. Questions? 25-29 August 2008, Lima, Peru 31st APEC Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPT-WG31), Lima, Peru

More Related