The delivery marked a special day for Volvo Bus Australia, where a DDA compliant B8RLE School bus with wheelchair spaces was supplied to the Cowra Bus Services. This bus is scheduled to provide morning and afternoon transport to and from school for Cowra Students and will also offer a town transport service to the public throughout the day. These services are being fully funded by Transport for NSW and will provide additional transport freedoms to Cowra based students and the general public.
The newly purchased B8RLE will be of significant value to the Saxby family, in particular for brother and sister, Justin and Sophie, who are Cowra High School students that rely on wheelchair friendly modes of transport. Until now, Justin and Sophie relied on their mother Cindy to transport them to and from school in their family car - which took close to half an hour of travel time each way.
With the addition of Cowra Bus Services’ new DDA compliant B8RLE, this will eliminate the need for this, as Sophie and Justin can now enjoy a wheelchair friendly bus ride to school next to their friends, without the need to leave their wheelchairs.
Volvo Bus Regional Sales Manager, Stuart Woodward, caught up with Sophie and her family when delivering the brand new bus in Cowra. Sophie, 12, is very eager to start catching the bus to school.
“I’m so happy that I get to go to school with my friends now,” says Sophie. “While I am in my chair, they can sit facing me and we can spend more time together. I can now also go on all the excursions with them too!”
Cindy Saxby has commented on how the new Volvo B8RLE will improve social inclusion for her children, as they will now be able to travel to and from school just like their friends. The positive impact the B8RLE will have on the Saxby family, Cowra High School students and the wider community, makes Volvo Bus Australia delighted to have played a part in it.
“We are really proud to have this new Volvo bus that will not only make school trips and commuting more accessible, but will also give those who are reliant on a wheelchair, more autonomy when travelling,” says Jeff Brown, Manager at Cowra Bus Services. “After having several Volvo buses in the fleet for years now, we knew the Volvo B8RLE was the right choice for us, it’s a superior product, and we have local support with a dealer in town”.
“At Volvo Bus Australia, we have always taken pride in the quality that we are able to continuously deliver to our valued customers. We are again thrilled that we could deliver on our promise of value and quality when supplying the Volvo B8LRE to the Cowra Bus Service. The team have done a great job in managing the customisation of the B8LRE on a Volgren body to suit the needs of our customer and their community”, says Stuart Woodward, Regional Sales Manager for Volvo Bus in NSW.
In addition to providing more accessible public transport to the Cowra community, the new bus will also deliver world-leading fuel efficiency, increased versatility, improved driver performance and versatility, as well as integral after sales support.