LANSING, Mich. — A school bus contractor, dealer, and school bus manufacturer celebrated on Wednesday their collaboration to provide pupil transportation with 92 new buses at a local back-to-school event.

Dean Transportation, Hoekstra Transportation, and Thomas Built Buses featured the new school buses that will serve Lansing School District, and shared school bus safety tips with local schoolchildren, according to a news release from Thomas Built Buses.

Beginning this fall, school districts throughout Michigan will begin the school year with the Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner C2 school buses. Featuring the latest engine technology with the Detroit DD5 engine, which is built in Redford, Michigan, the buses are fuel-efficient and offer lower operating costs, according to the manufacturer.

Dean Transportation of Lansing has provided specialized transportation services in the state for more than 50 years, while dealer Hoekstra Transportation of Grand Rapids has a 91-year history of serving the region with transportation solutions.

Patrick Dean, vice president of Dean Transportation, said that his company believes in helping a community by being “a productive part of it,” and that Dean Transportation is “extremely proud to operate buses with engines made right here in Michigan.”

“We’ve worked with Thomas Built Buses’ local Michigan dealer, Hoekstra Transportation, for the past five decades,” Dean added. “These new buses are providing quality transportation to students, plus they are fueling the economy and providing jobs for local drivers and plant employees in the Michigan area.”

Caley Edgerly, president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses added that as a Michigan native, he is proud that the buses “will employ workers in Redford as well as drivers and technicians across the state.”