A ‘Friendly’ Take on Pupil Transportation in Canada

“Friendly Manitoba.” That’s the claim made on the license plates of school buses, cars, and other vehicles that traverse the roads of this prairie province in the center of Canada.

It’s a bold statement to make in any case, but especially on the plates of the province’s automobiles. It puts a lot of responsibility on Manitoba’s drivers to make good on the friendliness claim.

I haven’t visited Manitoba, so I can’t attest to the affability of its motorists. But I can say that I got the “Friendly Manitoba” vibe recently when I talked to two Manitobans named Ken.

Ken Bergen and Ken Krulicki, the co-chairs of the 2016 Canadian Pupil Transportation Conference (CPTC), had just barely recovered from the huge undertaking of producing that biennial event when they took time to tell me about the experience.

You can read more about the CPTC in our 2016 Canadian Fact Book, which is available in digital-only format here. The event covered a range of timely topics, including alternative fuels, stop-arm running, Wi-Fi on school buses, and updates to the Canadian Standards Association D250 standards for school bus construction.

Along with the conference coverage, our new Canadian Fact Book includes pupil transportation statistics by province, Canadian school bus sales data, industry contacts, and a story about Micro Bird’s 50th anniversary.

As for the “Friendly Manitoba” claim, I can report this insight: Ken Krulicki told me that more than one CPTC attendee said that the Manitoba hosts reflected their license plates’ slogan.

“We just had a lot of positive comments from the people that attended,” Krulicki said. “We spent a lot of time and effort making sure all of the little details were looked after, and making sure people felt welcome.”