For example, consider a "shuttle" type transportation movement for the movement of employees from a point of service to their place of work, for which the carrier has obtained a subscription permit from the Commission des transports du Québec and having the following elements:

• No schoolchildren or anyone under 18 will take a seat on the bus;
• The bus is not assigned to school transportation, although it is yellow;
• The signs "Schoolboys" will be covered;
• The transportation movement is not a "charter" type of operation performed under the exemption from a permit of the section of the Bus Transportation Regulations, by which a charter carrier engaged in charter transportation is exempt from the requirement to be licensed for chartered transportation services.

In the presence of such circumstances, yes, lettering or affixing of a sign is authorized on the yellow bus, since it is no longer considered a "school bus" within the meaning of the Regulation respecting affected road vehicles student transportation ("Regulations").

Indeed, the Regulations provide that:

1. The transportation of students referred to in sections 229, 454 and 461 of the Highway Safety Code (chapter C-24.2), if it is not integrated with the public transit service of an urban transit permit holder within the meaning of section 22 of the Regulation respecting bus transportation (chapter T-12, r.16) or of a public transit authority, must be carried out by means of a bus or minibus d schoolchildren or a vehicle assigned to transport students.
(...)

The Regulation also states that a school bus or minibus, the one carrying the inscriptions referred to in section 30, is the word "ÉCOLIERS" painted or otherwise indicated on the outside walls of the bus. Schoolchildren above the windshield and the rear window.

However, the Highway Safety Code specifies that these inscriptions must be removed or covered when the vehicle is not used to transport schoolchildren. This is the case in this example. The assignment to school transport is therefore broken.

If you have any questions, please contact Valérie Cloutier at vcloutier@federationautobus.com or by phone at 418-476-8181, extension 209.