In this edition of the National Bus & Coach Bulletin we launch registrations for the upcoming Bus Industry Summit 1st and 2nd March 2022. We provide an update on our national agenda to ensure safety comes first as Industry transitions to ZERO and we invite you to ‘have your say’. APTIA provides an overview on recent cases in the vaccination space, updates on family and domestic violence leave and making orders to stop sexual harassment.

The BIC has also locked and loaded an interactive key dates calendar for national and international conferences, expos, summits and seminars.

Registrations are now open for the 2022 National Industry Summit

If you are an operator, supplier or bureaucrat servicing the Australian bus and coach industry, we urge you to participate in this national summit. The Summit aims to urgently inform Industry on mission critical issues – current and in the next couple of years. We would normally have covered much of the planned summit program in our usual Moving People National Conference in November (just gone), but we feel that all businesses and government services involved in Industry need to come together sooner rather than later in an open forum to learn, share information and engage on a number of high level reforms and new law. The 1-1/2 day Summit will commence with a half-day on Tuesday 1 March to address the areas of accessible transport, heavy vehicle law and zero emission technology and transition. Day 2 of the summit will see dedicated seminars and workshops in the areas of industrial relations, vehicle and operational technical issues and fleet replacement modelling. The BIC will also host an industry dinner on the night of Day 1. The Summit is being held at the Hotel Realm in Canberra. Full details on the movingpeople website.

BIC’s national plans to ensure industry’s safe transition to ZERO

As Industry knows all too well – a rapid transition to Zero Emissions Buses (ZEBs) is occurring across Australia. This transition is outpacing the governments’ ability to develop an appropriate policy and regulatory framework which will ensure the safe design, configuration, operation and maintenance of these heavy vehicles whose primary function is to move people. To fill this void in the short to medium term it is proposed that Industry develop codes of practice, advisories and guidelines. The BIC is calling on the Commonwealth to fund the development of these resources as a matter of urgency before there are any critical incidences related to new and largely untested technologies in Mass Transit.

The BIC has established a committee of subject matter experts in their fields to help develop national industry standards and advisories to ensure that buses and coaches continue to be the safest way to travel on Australia’s roads. We invite industry to provide us with the issues and challenges your business is facing in the transition to ZERO. You can ‘have your say’ by going to the movingpeople website or click on the below link to find out more information.