News, Background
Thanks to raven and hippo in the right Postbus
For many children, a new adventure begins after the summer holidays: the first day of school or the start of kindergarten. In the first few weeks in particular, many of them face a challenge: which Postbus will take me to school? A simple method can help with this: animals as signposts. In Val Müstair, there’s a plush raven in the cockpit, in French-speaking Switzerland, there’s Nipferd and co.
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In Val Müstair in the Canton of Graubünden, oversized plush ravens help children get on the right Postbus. The bird sits in the cockpit and is clearly visible. The children don’t have to remember any route numbers that are complicated for them – they simply know: “I’m driving the Postbus with the raven.”
This is fun and fulfils an important purpose: orientation and safety on the way to school – just like that. Around 12 years ago, the idea came from local teachers – PostBus was enthusiastic about the friendly method and has been using it successfully ever since. “The parents and children are informed before the start of school. The soft toy code has become established and works perfectly,” says driver and PostBus operator Rinaldo Lechthaler from Lü.
Whale instead of bus number 1, elephant instead of number 12
In French-speaking Switzerland, PostBus also focuses on child-friendly solutions. Many ScolaCar school buses are labelled with coloured animal symbols. This means that even children who are not yet able to read or count numbers will recognize their bus immediately. Whether it’s a whale, a parrot, a hippo or a pig, the animal shows the children the way. The animal project for Western Switzerland was born in 2021. A teacher from the Lausanne region thought about how useful the labels on school buses are for children. School coordinator Nicolas Ferrero from PostBus was happy to take the ball on board: how can you develop a practical and educational tool that shows children the way and is easily recognizable for everyone – even the youngest children who can’t yet read? This gave rise to the idea of graphically combining colour, a number and an animal.
A good solution was quickly found for the graphic: a school bus driver at the time is also an illustrator of children’s books. He created all the drawings that are still in use today. In August 2022, the 17 animal symbols were introduced across the entire ScolaCar fleet. They are affixed to the rear of the vehicle and to the left of the main entrance. “Since the introduction, there has been hardly a child who doesn’t know which school bus to take. This early period in this important new phase of life is formative. Later on as adults, children may also remember the hippopotamus and octopus in the Postbus,” says a delighted Nicolas Ferrero.
