DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. – Birnie Bus is rolling out a new fleet in Jacksonville and the big yellow schools buses aren't your average school bus.
"They are all brand new state-of-the-art buses, they have camera systems and GPS systems in there. We can track them no matter where they are at any time," said VP of Operations for Birnie Bus, Eric Taylor.
Birnie Bus was just awarded the newest contract from the Duval County public schools. The buses will be driving students on the west side of town for at least the next five years. The new business is also bringing in about 325 new jobs to Duval County. One of those jobs went to Burley Jones.
"I checked them out and they were a good company, so I got in with them and I really like the way they do business," said Jones.
For the past two weeks, Jones and the rest of his coworkers have been ramping up and getting ready for the new school. Jones will be driving one of the company's 217s. The new buses have new features such as extra security cameras and seat belts for the students. The drivers also say the buses are more comfortable.
Jones is happy just to drive the new buses.
"I'm most excited just to get back to work. It is not fun being off all summer with no money coming in, so you need to get to work and make some money," said Jones.