Chinese municipal government to purchase new school buses

QINGDAO, Shandong — The Qingdao municipal government plans to allocate funding to purchase school buses produced by Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co. Ltd.

Qingdao's traffic and transportation department is also organizing a team of school bus drivers responsible for trial runs, according to a story on chinadaily.com.cn.

The bus produced by Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co. Ltd. is similar in appearance to the Type C school buses that are built in the U.S., and it reportedly has the highest safety rating of all school bus products in China.

The design includes an enclosed ring structure around the body of the bus for impact resistance and a 360-degree vision span, according to the story on chinadaily.com.cn.

Moreover, the bus' seats are designed smaller than those of ordinary buses in consideration of children's height. Each seat is equipped with a seat belt.

The buses are to be given trial runs in the second half of this year.