By Paul Hemsley
ACT Government bus drivers will receive training from automotive manufacturer, Scania.
As ordered under the government contract, this training will be provided as Scania supplies 20 accessible and sustainable buses to be integrated into the ACT Government’s public transport fleet.
Scania will provide trainers and facilitators qualified in Certificate IV training and assessment from the Australian Qualifications Training Framework.
According to the contract document, Scania intends to cater for individual learning styles of the drivers.
The company has developed a Learning Styles Inventory that participants complete prior to the training delivery.
It identifies the preferred learning style of the participant and allows the trainer or facilitator to structure course delivery to meet the learners’ specific learning styles.
Drivers will learn servicing overview, systems overview and driver familiarisation.
As well as the training program, Scania will supply the accessible, articulated, large-capacity and sustainable buses for the Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network (ACTION) fleet.
The project was funded as part of the $75 million allocated in and since the 2008-2009 ACT Budget.
This step in the government’s fleet replacement follows its $1.395 million upgrade of 300 bus stops under the Accessible Public Transport in the ACT action plan.
It is also a step towards ACTION’s target of December 2012 to have 55 per cent of its fleet accessible under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA), with a fully accessible fleet by December 2022.
ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Katy Gallagher said these additions are the first articulated buses in Canberra for about 20 years entering service.
"Between now and March 2013, twenty easy access articulated buses will be progressively delivered replacing ACTION's ageing articulated fleet, some of which are now up to 24 years old,” Ms Gallagher said.
Ms Gallagher said these buses will meet demand on the most highly used routes such as the Blue and Red Rapid services.
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