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Are school bus operators and managements optimising technology and creating better transport systems for children and the community at large? It’s time to ponder over the changing trends in school bus transport and the way forward.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Most parents are happy in the knowledge that their children are on the way to school on the trusted yellow school bus. School buses are certainly the safest way to transport children to and from school, especially considering that federal standards for bus design, age for used school buses and driver experience, have been tightened in recent years. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]However, are current school bus transportation systems in need of an overhaul, in terms of incorporating technology and upping budgetary allocations for improving efficiency? Let’s take a look at some of the factors influencing school bus transport systems and potential areas of improvement. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”40426″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]* More children are using mass transport to school.
From the year 1969, there has been a gradual decline in the numbers of children walking or bicycling to school. As motor transport increased on the roads, parents became fearful about children using the roads to walk or bike to school. Thus, while some parents chose to drive their children to school every morning, others sent them on the school bus – thereby adding to the vehicular traffic. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention ran a survey asking for parents to cite reasons for sending their children to school on mass transit systems. The reasons ranged from parents’ concern for their children’s safety, to the long commutes.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]* The nation’s school buses are its largest fleet of mass transit.
A lot of attention is given to children’s safety and wellbeing while they are at school – but what about when they travel to school in a school bus? If you have not pondered over the statistics before, now is a good time to do so: an estimated 10 to 14 per cent of rush hour traffic comprises school related transportation, of which school buses form a major part. The country’s fleet of school buses transport over 25 million students daily – this is more than twice all the other forms of mass transit in America combined![/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]* School managements are rarely included on regional transport bodies.
For a mass transit system as large as the school bus system in the US, it is astonishing that school representatives are hardly ever included in regional and State transportation policy discussions. The thrust of most policy planning and design revolves around people commuting in metropolitan areas, with school transportation hardly ever coming up as a focus area of discussion. A recent report by Bellwether Education Partner contends that only Tampa, Florida has a local school representative (from the local school district) on the metropolitan planning organisation. This is a grim scenario, especially considering that more and more students are attending schools outside their neighborhoods, and not all of them have access to private car transport to school.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]* Cost is a major consideration for deploying technology on school buses.
While school managements in most districts and cities would be hard pressed to spend the money required for modern technological enhancements on school buses – only 33 per cent of school bus operators used GPS on their fleets in 2015, despite over 72 per cent buying new school buses for sale that year. Another area where school districts need to get more involved is in gathering, analysing and using real time data to improve school bus efficiency.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][inventorysearch][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Founder & Chief Financial Officer at Nations Bus Sales.
Strong background in finance, Negotiation, and strategic decision-making in the transportation industry. Successful track record of negotiating multi-million dollar contracts and maintaining profit and growth. Flexible and versatile – able to maintain a sense of humor under pressure.