Just returned from the week following Thanksgiving.
Did confirm with a bus driver on the AKL/MK route that 100 new buses have been ordered. He said that the system to hold the scooters in place was "really cool" but when I asked about wheelchair users, and specifically folding chairs, he said that he had not yet seen any training personally, only had heard from drivers who had.
I am hopeful that the we won't be backing UP a ramp to get into the bus, but rather onto a platform that would lift the device + user to bus level. That would make sense, and fit into the context of what we are hearing. Once you were at bus level, then backing into the securing device would probably be fairly easy. Where I (and others, I am sure) have a problem is that I can no longer easily turn to look over my shoulder while backing; I am reliant on others to give me verbal cues when I am backing.