London-area electric school buses sidelined for safety inspections

Hundreds of students without transportation after electric busses were pulled off the road. CTV London’s Reta Ismail has more on the precautionary measure.

Dozens of school buses in the London area have been pulled off the roads Monday morning as a precaution.

As previously reported by CTV News, Langs Bus Lines was taking part in a pilot project for electric school buses, and in June 2024, already had a number of them in its fleet.

At the time, it was reported the funding would cover the cost of 200 new electric buses that would transport about 9,000 children from communities across the region to and from school.

The federal government, along with infrastructure Canada, provided Langs with $44.6 million in grants and loans to make the transition.

Thames Valley District School Board response

As a precautionary measure Lion Electric has ordered the inspection of the heating and defrosting control system in all their electric school buses immediately. Langs Bus Lines is the school bus operator of these vehicles in the STS service area and will be conducting the inspections. As a result of the safety bulletin released by Lion Electric the decision was made to remove the electric vehicles from service to ensure safety of students and staff. If a student’s route uses a Langs Bus Lines electric vehicle it may be temporarily cancelled while inspections are underway. Any service disruptions will be posted to the STS website and pushed to the STS app by 6:30 am. Inspections are underway this morning and we expect a gradual return to service starting Tuesday September 16, 2025. We understand this is inconvenient and appreciate the cooperation of our families as we prioritize safety. For questions and comment, please contact Student Transportation Services.

— TVDSB