Journal Pioneer: Mothers oppose shuttle plans

Parents of teens killed in crash critical of Island firm's van proposal

BATHURST, N.B. - Two women who lost children in a deadly van crash are objecting to a Summerside shuttle service's bid to operate in New Brunswick.

Click here to read original article on The Journal Pioneer

Advanced Shuttle Services has applied to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board to operate there. But Isabelle Hains and Ana Acevedo claim in a press release issued Sunday night that 15-passenger vans are inherently dangerous.

Their sons Daniel and Javier were two of seven teenagers killed when a van carrying members of the Bathurst High School Phantoms basketball team crashed four years ago. An adult also died in the collision with a truck.

An inquiry followed which led to the New Brunswick government adopting some of the coroner's recommendations.

"As a result of our sons' deaths, 15-passenger vans were banned for student use in New Brunswick. They have also been banned in Nova Scotia and Quebec," the mothers wrote in their submission to the EUB. "In terms of passenger safety, 15-passenger vans are not equal to the safety provided by the charter buses used by Acadian Bus Lines."

Acadian Lines buses are not operating on New Brunswick or P.E.I. roadways. Workers were locked out more than a month ago when contract talks stalled.

In their submission, the women say there is a great deal of research that says vans are not as safe as buses and that van drivers are not required to meet the same licensing standards as those who drive coaches and school buses.

"This is a public safety issue and the EUB cannot ignore the fact that in New Brunswick, of all places, there is a heightened awareness and sensitivity to the use of 15-passenger vans for transporting groups of people, especially students," the women write in their statement.

They say any shuttle service not using coaches should use a 21-passenger Multi-Function Activity Bus, which looks like a shortened school bus.

Click here to read original article on The Journal Pioneer

Collision Repair Magazine: Objections raised to PEI carrier's application for permit to use 15 passenger vans

Two Bathurst mothers whose sons were killed in a tragic 15 passenger van collision that took the lives of seven members of the Bathurst High School Phantoms basketball team say not much has changed since their sons' deaths four years ago.

Click here to read original article in Collision Repair Magazine

"We still have a long way to go to educate the public about the dangerous use of 15 passenger vans for human transportation," says Isabelle Hains, whose son Daniel was 17 years old when he was killed on January 12, 2008.

Hains say a recent application to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board by Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. of PEI for a permit to transport university students using 15 passenger vans "proves they have learned nothing from our sons' deaths."

Hains and Ana Acevedo, whose 17 year old son Javier was also killed in the Bathurst crash, are objecting to the PEI company's application to the EUB. They say it's a public safety issue and cite the record of 15 passenger vans, including the Boys in Red tragedy, as reasons why the Board should decline a permit.

Hains and Acevedo say that although the Liberal government of Shawn Graham banned the use of 15 passenger vans for student transportation in the wake of the Boys in Red tragedy, replacing them with Multi-Function Activity Buses (MFABs), both the Liberal and Conservative governments refuse to hire professional Class 2 B licensed drivers, one of the May 2009 Coroners Inquest key recommendations.

"Instead, the government prefers to use volunteer drivers - well meaning coaches, teachers and other parents who shouldn't have that responsibility on their shoulders. These MFABs are similar to Yellow School Buses. They require a skill to drive them which professional Class 2 bus drivers already have. That would solve a lot of the safety and policy issues right there because professional bus drivers know what they have to do. They are already trained," Hains says.

In their letter to the EUB, Hains and Acevedo say that Advanced Shuttle Services is targetting University students and they feel compelled to object to the permit:

The full text of the letter to the EUB is available at blog.vanangels.ca/2012/01/new-brunswick-energy-and-utilities.html.
Last Updated on Monday, 09 January 2012 11:28

Click here to read original article in Collision Repair Magazine

Toronto Star: Moms warn New Brunswick not to approve ‘death traps’

Richard J. Brennan National Affairs Writer

Two New Brunswick mothers are pleading with the province not to allow the introduction of 15-passenger vans, which they say are “death traps” that claimed their sons’ lives along with five other basketball players and a coach’s wife four years ago.

Click here to read original article in the Toronto Star on line

“There is well known documented scientific research about these 15-passenger vans and the end result is that they are death traps on wheels,” said Isabelle Hains, whose son Daniel was 17 years old when he was killed on January 12, 2008.

The Bathurst High Phantoms were returning from a game in Moncton, N.B., about 220 kilometres away, when the accident occurred on Highway 8 outside Bathurst, a city of about 12,500 people. The seven students were killed when their van, driven by the coach, collided with a transport truck.

Hains and Ana Acevedo, whose 17-year-old son Javier was also killed, said that an application to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board by Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. of PEI for a permit to transport university students using 15 passenger vans “proves they have learned nothing from our sons’ deaths.”

Hains said these vans were intended to carry cargo, not people. “There is an increase in rollover and fish tailing when they have to do a quick manoeuvre on the highway at a high speed,” she told the Star, noting that she has been studying the road worthiness of these types since her son died.

David Anderson, owner of Advanced Shuttle Services, said while he is sympathetic to the loss of life in the accident, the fact remains that his company is already licensed in Nova Scotia to operate 15-passenger vans.

“It’s not fair to say that all (15) passenger shuttles are dangerous. They are just not,” Anderson told the Star, adding that all vans used in New Brunswick would be registered in Nova Scotia, where he said there are regular provincial inspections.

After the deadly crash, police discovered the school van, a 15-seat 1997 Ford Econoline club wagon, had worn tires, badly adjusted brakes and was riddled with rust. And though the van had passed a safety test in late October 2007, it was not roadworthy when it headed to Moncton for a basketball game in January, according the RCMP mechanic who inspected it.

In the wake of the crash, 15-passenger vans were banned from school use in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and 25 U.S. states. No similar bans exist in Ontario, but some schools, including Grand River Collegiate Institute in Waterloo, stopped using a passenger van after the accident.

David Young, a spokesperson for the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board, said the board will decide Feb. 7 how to proceed on the application, but added a hearing is tentatively scheduled for the end of February to consider the scheduled service application.

In their letter to the energy board, Hains and Acevedo said Advanced Shuttle Services is targeting university and college students, many of them who just four years ago mourned the deaths of seven basketball players from Bathurst.

“Had we known what we know today about 15-passenger vans, we would never have allowed our boys to be passengers in that type of vehicle and our sons would still be alive today,” the letter stated.

Click here to read original article in the Toronto Star on line

Montreal Gazette: N.B. moms renew push to ban 'dangerous' vans for school trips

By Marianne White, Postmedia News January 9, 2012 6:06 PM

Read the original article in the Montreal Gazette on line

The mothers of two New Brunswick high-school basketball players who lost their lives in a van crash four years ago lament that little has been done since then to ban 15-passenger vans for student travel.

Isabelle Hains and Ana Acevedo — respective mothers of Daniel and Javier, who were 17 when they were killed in a 15-passenger van crash in Bathurst, N.B., on Jan. 12, 2008 — have been campaigning for years to educate people about this type of van they say is unfit for passenger transportation.

A coroner's inquest following the Bathurst tragedy — which killed five other students and a teacher — recommended such vans be barred across Canada for student travel. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec have since outlawed the vans for school use.

Hains and Acevedo are now urging the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board to turn down a request from a Prince Edward Island company for a permit to transport university students using 15-passenger vans.

"This shows that some people haven't learned a lesson from our children's deaths," Hains said in a telephone interview.

The company Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. has applied to get a licence to set up a daily shuttle service, using 15-passenger vans, between P.E.I. and New Brunswick.

"It is incredible to us that, on the eve of the fourth anniversary of our sons' deaths, the EUB would even consider the possibility of allowing Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. to provide a lower level of safety for inter-city transportation services targeting students," the mothers wrote in a letter sent Sunday to the New Brunswick agency.

Hains stressed that 15-passenger vans are dangerous because they were originally designed as cargo vehicles and lack the normal passenger protections, such as reinforced steel roofs or crash-proof windows, common on other passenger vehicles.

"There's a reason why they're called death traps," Hains said.

She said there is an alternative vehicle that is available, called a Multi Function Activity Bus (D270), which has the same safety standard as the yellow school buses.

A spokesman for the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board stressed the agency will review the permit's request based on the comments it is receiving. If needed, a public hearing could be held in February to determine whether the P.E.I. company should be granted a licence, said EUB spokesman Dave Young.

Transport Canada is currently conducting a safety review of 15-passenger vans, expected to be released later this year.

mwhite@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/whitma
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

Read the original article in the Montreal Gazette on line

Chronice Herald: Boys Moms protest shuttle plan

BATHURST, N.B. (CP) — Two New Brunswick mothers whose sons were killed in a 15-passenger van crash four years ago are objecting a shuttle line’s application to use that type of vehicle to transport university students.

Isabelle Hains is denouncing an application by the P.E.I.-based Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. for a permit to use the van, which is banned for student use in the province.

Hains, whose 17-year-old son Daniel was killed in the Bathurst crash, says it is "incredible" the company would even consider using the vans.

Hains and Ana Acevedo, whose son Javier, 17, was also killed, have sent a lengthy letter to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board outlining their concerns.

The mothers cite other examples of fatal 15-passenger van crashes and say the vehicle was designed to haul freight and not people.

CBC: Company seeks to run N.B.-P.E.I bus service using 15 passenger vans

We can't believe that four years after our sons' deaths in a tragic 15 passenger van collision that someone from PEI would even consider using 15 passenger vans to transport students in NB and PEI.

We intend to object to this application for a transport carriers' permit and we hope that other people do too. After everything that has happened in the last four years, have they learned nothing? It's up to the EUB to put a stop to this and we're going to let them know exactly how we feel. NO to using 15 passenger vans for inter-city bus transportation!!

Here's the article from the CBC.

Company seeks to run N.B.-P.E.I bus service
Advanced Shuttle Services had 2004 application denied by N.B. board

Click here to read original article on CBC website

A Summerside-based shuttle company is applying to set up a daily bus service that would connect New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

The Acadian Coach Lines lockout, which started in December, has eliminated the only bus link between the two provinces.

David Anderson, the owner of Advanced Shuttle Services, has applied to the Energy and Utilities Board for permission to set up the shuttle service.

Anderson said his service would mainly target university students but it would offer an option for anyone who needs to get between the two provinces.

The businessowner said the current bus lockout has shown the “inconvenience” of relying on only one company to operate a bus service between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

“This pretty well goes to show that the bigger company had the market and they didn’t have anything for people to fall back on. People need options and they didn’t have any,” he said.

Advanced Shuttle Services currently operates a shuttle service between Halifax and Prince Edward Island.

The company would like to use two, 15-person passenger vans to shuttle people between the two provinces. The vans would leave Prince Edward Island and make stops in Port Elgin, Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton.

Anderson said his company would like to have the service operating by mid-March.

Anderson said the company's previous owner applied in 2004 to the Public Utilities Board but they were denied.

In that decision the PUB, the predecessor of the Energy and Utilities Board, said, "this board has repeatedly found that it was in the public's interest to protect the existing scheduled carrier."

The province’s regulatory board will publish Advanced Shuttle Services’s request in the Royal Gazette next week.

The EUB will allow any individuals or groups to register complaints with the proposal until Feb. 7.

If the regulatory board requires a hearing, it would likely be held in late February.

If there are no objections to the proposal, the regulatory board could move directly to a hearing on routes and fares.

New Brunswick’s Motor Carrier Act says the board can approve these applications unless “the granting of the application would likely be detrimental to the interests of the users of public transportation services, to provincial economic or social development, or to intraprovincial, interprovincial, or international commerce.”
Lockout raises questions

The month-long lockout has raised questions about the need for additional public transit options in New Brunswick.

So far, the Acadian lockout has meant Advanced Shuttle Service has been very busy fielding calls from potential customers. Anderson said his company is receiving six to 10 calls a day from individuals curious if they offer a service to New Brunswick.

Even if the Acadian lockout is resolved, Anderson said there is a need for the shuttle service.

A prominent New Brunswick environmentalist said the provincial government should consider setting up its own public transportation system.

David Coon, the executive director of the Conservation Council, said the provincial government should also consider helping to establish inter-city bus service by offering some tax incentive for companies.

Saskatchewan is one province that helps fund an inter-city bus service.

The Saskatchewan Transportation Company receives between $8 million and $9 million from the provincial government, which is about 65 per cent of the revenue.

A spokesperson for the Saskatchewan Transportation Company said only three of 26 bus routes are profitable, but said providing the service to rural areas is something that's worth paying for.


Click here to read original article on CBC website

New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board: Our objection to PEI Carrier's Application to EUB for Permit to use 15 passenger vans

Raymond Gorman Q.C. Chairman
Energy and Utilities Board
P.O. Box 5001
15 Market Square, Suite 1400
Saint John, NB
E2L 4Y9

Via email: raymond.gorman@nbeub.ca, david.keenan@nbeub.ca, Lorraine.Legere@nbeub.ca

January 8, 2012

Dear Mr. Gorman:

We are Isabelle Hains and Ana Acevedo of Bathurst, New Brunswick. We are writing to object to the application by Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. of Prince Edward Island, to set up a daily shuttle service, using 15 passenger vans, between PEI and NB.

Four years ago on January 12, 2008, our sons Daniel Hains and Javier Acevedo were killed in a 15 passenger van collision along with five other members of the Bathurst High School Phantoms basketball team. Had we known what we know today about 15 passenger vans we would never have allowed our boys to be passengers in that type of vehicle and our sons would still be alive today.

As a result of our sons' deaths, 15 passenger vans were banned for student use in New Brunswick. They have also been banned in Nova Scotia and Quebec, and it is our understanding that they have been banned in PEI as well.

It is incredible to us that, on the eve of the 4th anniversary of our sons' deaths, the EUB would even consider the possibility of allowing Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. to provide a lower level of safety for inter-city transportation services targetting students by using 15 passenger vans. In terms of passenger safety, 15 passenger vans are not equal to the safety provided by the charter buses used by Acadian Bus Lines.

This is a public safety issue and the EUB cannot ignore the fact that in New Brunswick, of all places, there is a heightened awareness and sensitivity to the use of 15 passenger vans for transporting groups of people, especially students. The Boys in Red tragedy is a constant reminder that we should expect nothing less than the best when transporting human beings.

Our objection is based on the following four concerns:

First, and most important, we object to the proposed use of 15 passenger vans for this new shuttle service because countless studies and research into the use these vehicles have proven that the they should never be used to transport humans.

There is an alternative vehicle that is now being used, right here in New Brunswick, called a Multi Function Activity Bus (D270). The MFAB is built to the same standard as Yellow School Buses (D250) and in August 2008, six months after our sons' deaths, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), a leading developer of standards and codes, announced the publication of the new CSA D270 MFAB, which is intended to be used as a safer alternative to vehicles not classified as a school bus.

We believe that if the EUB is considering granting Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. a permit, it should only use CSA approved, MFABs (D270s) to transport human beings - not a 15 passenger van which is universally known as a "death trap on wheels".

15 passenger vans were designed to haul freight to be carried on van's floor. The van in which our sons were killed was originally used to haul linen before it was purchased by the Bathurst Van Inc. to transport students. Manufacturers decided to install seats in these cargo vans, turning them into passenger vans to increase sales to consumer groups such as churches, day cares, schools, universities and air port shuttle services.

The automotive engineers never redesigned these vehicles to meet higher safety standards to transport passengers. Their high centre of gravity increases when loaded with passengers and cargo.

If five or more passengers are riding in these vans, the likelihood of rollover increases dramatically, because the rear extends four to five and a half feet beyond the rear wheels.

Loading of five or more passengers plus luggage and other personal belongings increases instability during emergency manouevres such as sudden turns to avoid pedestrians, vehicles or animals on the road.

Increased load on these vehicles changes the centre of gravity upward and rearward, causing the van to experience rear tire slide, commonly known as fishtailing.

Fishtailing in turn, increases roll overs and devastating crashes. Fishtailing is a dangerous stability problem not noticeable to an average driver but which becomes all too apparent in emergency steering situations, such as when the van drifts on to the shoulder of a roadway.

In emergency manouevres, a sharp turn could cause a loss of control at high speeds.

15 passenger vans do not have laminated side windows (safety glass) and their large side window openings increase the likelihood of passenger ejection.

The rear emergency escape door is blocked by a passenger seat and critically, the tire pressure needs to be frequently monitored according to the weight of the vehicle.

Among many other design defects, they have single rear wheels, rather than dual wheels, and their roll over protection is non-existent: the body protection is minimal because of the unibody shell design.

The National Health and Transport Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States has issued four safety advisories on 15 passenger vans, more than any other vehicle. The most recent was in October 2010 after 10 people were killed in two separate accidents. Since 2010, there have been dozens of fatal 15 passenger accidents in the United States and Canada. Because of the way these vehicles are marketed as a cheap and economical mode of transport, the victims are almost always students, musicians, farm workers, church groups, seniors, and children in day cares.

Second, we are concerned about the licensing of drivers for transporting large groups of people in a 15 passenger van, which is considered a "bus" under the NB Motor Vehicle Act. It's bad enough that Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. is proposing to use a vehicle with the worst safety record in the world, but we have to ask, what kind of driver training do their drivers have? The fact that is that anybody over the age of 19 who can complete a written Class 4 exam followed by a road test can be qualified to drive 15 passenger vans and transport large groups of people from PEI to NB for the rest of their lives without ever having to take another test. There is no training, no drivers' abstract required, no medical, no refresher courses. In comparison, large charter buses like the ones used by Acadian Bus Lines, and Yellow School Buses used to transport students are driven by professional, class 2 licensed drivers with B endorsement who drive buses for a living. They undergo intensive drivers training and ongoing skills development. Their "B" endorsement means they have to renew their license every two years. What kind of license do these 15 passenger van drivers have?

Third, you should be aware of developments on the federal and provincial stage that point to a recognition there are safety problems with 15 passenger vans:

1) Following pressure from our Van Angels group, in June 2010, then Federal Transport Minister John Baird committed to a federal 15 passenger van safety review which is ongoing.

2) Also, at the same time, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) has undertaken a cross Canada study of 15 passenger vans.

3) Further to this, in March, 2011, as a result of pressure from our Van Angels group, the NB Department of Education struck a Committee on Extra and Co-Curricular Activity Transportation that is charged with developing recommendations towards safer student transportation policies.

Fourth, we believe that the only reason Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. has applied for a permit from the EUB is to take advantage of a protracted labour dispute between Acadian Bus Lines and its unionized drivers, a situation which is temporary. Once the labour dispute is over, service between PEI and NB will resume as before.

While Acadian Bus Lines is, no doubt, not as efficient as its previous operators, it is the only inter-city bus service we have. Perhaps this is the time for the EUB to seriously think about permitting transport carriers like Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd. to use only the safest alternative vehicle on the market - one that is promoted by the Canadian Standards Association - the MFAB (D270) which is designed with passenger safety in mind.

As parents whose boys were killed in a tragic 15 passenger van collision four years ago, we are compelled to object to this application for permit. The students whom Advanced Shuttle Services is targetting are the same children who, exactly four years ago, stood shoulder to shoulder with students across Canada and the world in mourning the deaths of seven basketball players from Bathurst. These same students are now in their first, second, third and fourth year of university or community college and they need a safe way to get home to their families in villages, towns and cities across New Brunswick and PEI. The last vehicle they should be riding in is a 15 passenger van.

We hope to hear from you soon regarding this objection to Advanced Shuttle Services Ltd.'s application for a permit to provide 15 passenger van transportation services between PEI and NB.

Yours sincerely,




Isabelle Hains and Ana Acevedo
www.VanAngels.ca
info@VanAngels.ca

Premier David Alward, Province of New Brunswick
Minister Claude Williams, NB Department of Transportation
Minister Robert Trevors, NB Department of Public Safety
Minister Jody Carr, NB Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Yvon Godin, Member of Parliament, Acadie Bathurst
David Keenan, Advisor, NBEUB
Lorraine Légère, Board Secretary, NBEUB