Regulatory changes to the party bus industry in British Columbia won’t stop underage passengers from sipping flasks full of liquor or popping pills on board.
Newly released documents from the Ministry of Transportation show that the ministry acknowledges they can’t prevent illegal activities on party buses.
In a ministerial briefing from Sept. 30, 2014, that was obtained through a freedom of information request, the ministry discusses how behaviours demonstrated on a party bus are already against the law and how they’ve taken action to remind party bus companies of their safety obligations.
But five months after the briefing, the ministry made regulatory changes in an attempt to make party buses safer.
In a press conference on Feb. 26, 2015, Minister of Transportation Todd Stone announced that stretch SUV limousines and party buses will need special authorization from the Passenger Transportation Board to operate. The board regulates licences, rates, areas of operation and fleet size.
Until then, anyone with a driver’s licence could own and operate a party bus. With these stricter rules in place, the police will know where these buses are driving around, said the ministry in an emailed response.
The changes are meant to make teen passengers safer, deter underage drinking and crack down on bad operators.
But NDP transportation critic George Heyman said much more is needed if the province wants to prevent future tragedies.
Heyman is referring to the deaths of two 16-year-olds on party buses in metro Vancouver in 2008 and 2013.
“There is nothing more important than protecting young people,” said Heyman. “But the reality is it’s still dangerous for teens.”
Heyman said bus drivers can’t see what’s happening behind them and the new special authorization won’t solve that problem.
So how do theses changes make party buses more safe for teens?
The ministry didn’t directly answer that question.
In an emailed response from a ministry spokesperson, they write that the new regulations allow the government to have an increased level of scrutiny.
“By levelling the playing field in the industry, licensees will have to be more accountable.”
But Heyman thinks the Ministry of Transportation is simply throwing the responsibility to regulate the industry on someone else.
“They’ve left this to the Passenger Transportation Board. I suppose they could ask the board specifically to do certain things but they’ve done the minimum here so far.”
That’s why in 2014 Heyman introduced a private members bill with recommendations to make party buses safer.
He proposed a chaperone to travel with minors, stiffer fines, mandatory safety training for drivers, and for operators to be held liable for ‘travelling bar’ advertisements.
“It’s an industry where advertising shows passengers congregating around a stripper pole holding cups full of alcohol. What can you expect?”
Heyman’s bill didn’t make it past the first reading.
The ministry says that the current regulatory structure limits their ability to impose terms like the requirement for a chaperone to accompany minors.
However, Heyman believes the ministry could impose terms through legislative change, but there is a reluctance to introduce any more regulation.
“There is no guarantee that much more will happen to regulate party buses,” he said.
“The government felt enough pressure to make a change, but not enough.”
Requests for comment from party bus companies in British Columbia were unreturned.
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Below is a link to a package that contains all my requests:
Kate Cornick’s formal and informal requests
For the assignment
What is the information?
The information is from a ministerial briefing prepared for the Minister of Transportation Todd Stone for a meeting with Don Zurowski from the Passenger Transportation Board on Oct. 1, 2014. The briefing includes background, discussion, and questions and answers related to the party bus industry in B.C.
From which department and level of government did you obtain these pages?
The pages are from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in British Columbia (provincial government), but I did not request for these documents myself. They were given to me in class after none of my formal and infromal requests yielded a story or were returned.
Why was this information helpful?
This information provided me with deeper insight into the ministry’s thinking five months prior to the announcement about regulatory changes to the party bus industry. It gave me an idea of what the ministry had done to date to address passenger safety on party buses and an inside look into some of the discussions that were being had surrounding the issue. I learnt that the ministry was essentially saying there was nothing they could do, and they tried to justify their role in regulating the party buses to date.