BEDFORD, Ohio — Bedford City School District has become the first district in Ohio to purchase school buses made by Lion Bus.

Bedford acquired three of Lion’s Type C school buses through Bobby’s Truck And Bus Repair.

Patrick Carney, Bedford’s transportation supervisor, carefully studied the Lion school bus and recommended to administrators that the district purchase three of them.

“Bedford is the first Ohio district to look outside the box and purchase a bus that will result in substantial cost-savings over the lifespan of the bus,” Carney said.

Bobby’s Truck and Bus Repair followed the progress of Lion Bus for several years before recruiting its buses into Ohio at the end of 2013.

The process included having the bus thoroughly inspected by the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the state inspection team to ensure that it met the state construction codes and inspection standards.

In March, Bobby’s Truck and Bus Repair started traveling throughout Ohio to demonstrate the bus to school systems and private contractors. Bedford City School District was one of the stops. Carney made sure that all hands were on deck for the demonstration, including the bus drivers, mechanics, supervisors and the school business manager. He said that he wanted everyone to have a voice on the new product, and they were impressed.

Carney said that integrated safety features in the bus were most important to Bedford, including its raised window line for high visibility and its widened aisles for quick emergency evacuations.

“Safety is our top priority at Bedford,” Carney said.

“Bedford recognized the added value in Lion Bus, thus taking an investment approach when utilizing the OSC [Ohio Schools Council] consortium for purchasing,” said Kellie Sears, vice president at Bobby’s Truck and Bus Repair. “We are asking the school systems to use the methodology of successful businesses in the transportation industry when purchasing and maintaining school buses. … Bedford City Schools did their homework, ran their numbers and now leads the way for Lion Bus in Ohio.”