These are exciting times for those in the school transportation industry! There has been so much innovation in the world of vehicles, particularly when it comes to integrating computer technology into existing systems. It may take a little while for new ideas to make it into the world of school buses, due to the much greater safety and security concerns, but there are still plenty of new options for districts to take advantage of.
If you are investigating the possibility of upgrading your bus fleet to use alternative fuel systems, you have a lot of choices. Green fuels can potentially lower the emissions of your school buses, which in turn can reduce school bus maintenance costs; but that depends on
which emissions they reduce. Often, buyers focus solely on NOx (nitrogen oxide) but there’s more to the story than that.
One of the cornerstones of a proper school bus safety training program is an emphasis on the "Danger Zone." That is, the area immediately surrounding the school bus where children could be in danger of being hit by other cars - or the bus itself - and are potentially hidden by the bus's blind spots. Drivers must understand the threat represented by the Danger Zone, and be thoroughly trained on how to minimize the actual danger to their students.
It's impossible to follow technology news without hearing the words "self-driving" on an almost daily basis. Both vehicle and technology groups around the world are racing to have the first street-ready autonomous vehicles in every field of motoring imaginable.
Will your incoming 2018-19 students be ready for their first bus rides? Summer is the perfect time to help parents prepare their children!
There's probably no more challenging time for a school bus transportation director than the first week of classes. Students are having to learn their buses and bus schedules, plus many of the younger ones may have never ridden a bus alone. That first week can go a lot more smoothly if the students are prepared in advance.
Few aspects of school bus loading and unloading are more dangerous than the appropriately-named “danger zone.” The danger zone includes areas near the bus where a student cannot be directly seen by the bus driver, and where incidents involving other vehicles are most likely to occur. The danger zone can be considered to be a rectangle stretching 10 feet from the bus in any direction, with the most dangerous areas being the immediate front of the bus as well as anywhere within arm’s reach of the back half of the bus.
There are more ways to use technology to upgrade your student transportation services than ever before, and they can provide great ROI in terms of efficiency or other cost-savings. However, most technology upgrades still require an up-front investment, and that can be a hard sell if your school district is already facing budget issues.
It’s well known that student bus transportation costs are a huge part of a school district’s budget and a truly unavoidable expense. It’s only natural for school districts to look for ways to minimize the costs. Now, some districts are beginning to design their bell times largely around their transportation needs, but bell times impact every aspect of a district. Any major change will cause ripples across the entire city. Even if changing bell times would allow a district to cut thousands – or millions – of dollars from their transportation budget, is it worth the disruption?
Bullying is a hot topic at the moment, with many seeing the proliferation of bullying as one of the biggest problems in modern school districts. Administrators are under pressure to cut down on bullying and, in particular, shield disabled students from attacks which they often cannot defend themselves.
Overcoming the Challenges of School Bus Fleet Management
