The wheels on the bus: students get VIP bus garage tour

High school mechanics students went behind the scenes at the Transit Fleet Maintenance (TFM) area of Kathleen Andrews Garage to see what keeps City buses rolling.

Students boarded an Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) bus and took a ride through the bus wash before touring the rest of the facility, which is the size of about four Canadian Football League fields. Derek Hanson, Director of TFM within the City's Fleet and Facility Services (FFS) branch, led the students through a tour that included a look at a bus maintenance bay and electric bus charging stations, plus stories from staff.

The majority of the students were from Eastglen High School's Mechanics 2030 program, including Carter Tuck, a Grade 12 student hoping for an apprenticeship opportunity.

"This field trip gave me a lot more background knowledge about how everything works and it showed me basically what a bus goes through each day," said Tuck.

Steve Shaw, a department head from the school, said the tour gave insight on paths students can take to get a mechanics job in Edmonton. He added that it's a great opportunity for students to see the type of work they can do in the city without having to move away from home.

"The City of Edmonton really promotes that entry level into it, where they have that pathway, where yes, you may start as a bus cleaner but they have a program that can take them up into that heavy duty mechanic program and it's good for these guys to see that and how it progresses," said Shaw.

Hanson fielded questions from students throughout the tour and explained how they can get involved with the City of Edmonton. He ended the field trip by giving students cardboard cutouts of transit buses for students to put together.

"It's important to show students who are interested in this type of work what working for the City looks like," said Hanson. "I take pride in helping the next generation of bus mechanics discover a pathway to a fulfilling career."

The tour stemmed from ongoing work at the City that's focused on engaging youth in a way that's more creative than classroom presentations. FFS and ETS work together to further educate students on the work being done within the field of transit.

In 2023, the Transit Fleet Maintenance team completed:

• 59 engine replacements

• 955 active air installations

• 347 brake repairs

• 1,038 tows and boosts

• 3,741 retourques

• 5,763 accident repair hours

The team also refurbished seating on 22 buses and continues to look at ways to lower the emissions of its transit fleet.

Shaw said he hopes to bring students on a similar tour each semester and expand it to other areas of the City.

Editor's note: the pic at the top of the post shows Derek Hanson, Director of Transit Fleet Maintenance, on an ETS bus with Eastglen High School students during a tour of Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage on March 8, 2024.

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