Li Hao

    A TEMPORARY parking area was designated at Futian Checkpoint for school buses that transport cross-border students commuting between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Shenzhen traffic police said yesterday.

    Located on the west side of the checkpoint terminal, the parking area can hold 30 school buses. Other vehicles will be forbidden from using the area.

    A similar parking lot was opened at Luohu Checkpoint on Jan. 4.

    The opening of the parking areas is one of the measures by Shenzhen and Hong Kong to introduce a unified management of cross-border school buses.

    Several fatal school bus accidents were reported across the country in the past few months, drawing the nation’s attention to school bus management.

    As required, a total of 78 cross-border school buses, which are operated by seven bus companies, have applied to register with the city’s traffic police bureau.

    Among the applicants, 36 school buses have been deemed to meet the national safety standard.

    Starting Feb. 1, school buses that have not completed the registration will be prohibited from transporting cross-border students or park at the city’s checkpoint areas, the bureau said.

    Around 13,000 Hong Kong children cross the border from Shenzhen to study every day. About 4,000 of them take direct buses and another 9,000 children take minibuses and nanny buses via Shenzhen Bay, Huanggang, Wenjindu and Shatoujiao checkpoints.