agement changes that affected the culture from within and focused on its new definition of its key to success. He started with treating the employees differently and developing a measurement system that created incentives for employees to do a better job. At the same time he changed the ego- driven language of “I think” in meetings to “I know,” which was based on “information” rather than “data.” Changing these terms, he said, helped employees realize that what they were counting mattered. Soon employees viewed the service as a product, and bus drivers viewed


themselves as shopkeepers. In the end, Aesch’s management style enabled the transit authority to succeed rather than just survive — a practice that the school transportation industry can learn from and possibly adopt. Te same day over at the NASDPTS meeting, Leah Walton, NHTSA’s


school bus program administrator, announced that the updated School Bus Driver In-Service Safety Series is now available online at www.stnon- line.com/go/856. Te training includes information on such topics as: driv- er attitude; emergency evacuations; highway rail grade crossings; knowing your route; loading and unloading; student management; students with special needs; and vehicle training. NHTSA has also posted a Child Safety Restraint Systems on School Buses


training video on its website at www.stnonline.com/go/857. Six modules covering the basics of child safety restraint systems, or CSRS, include spe- cific information on rear-facing and forward-facing seats and safety vests. Te training is available in English and Spanish and is intended as introduc- tion to proper use of CSRS in school buses and as a refresher overview. Walton added that the in-service and CSRS modules will also be avail-


able in DVD format in December. “We highly encourage your staff and drivers to go through the eight-


hour course, if possible,” she said. “We thought the DVD would be a good option to verify what you’re doing is right.” Walton also provided information on focus groups it and the Ameri-


can School Bus Council held over the summer with parents of school bus riders to drive NHTSA’s public awareness safety campaign that began in September. She said key feedback received from the group indicated that the safety benefits of school buses were the most important message, and that the environmental and monetary benefits of school bus travel were secondary. Te parents said these messages should primarily be directed to them before their teens and that they preferred positive, up-beat and empowering information rather than graphic, shock-marketing tactics.


Safety, Operational Issues Abound Both groups were also paid a visit by Deborah Hersman, chairman of the Na-


tional Transportation Safety Council, and NHTSA Administrator David Strick- land spoke to NASDPTS members yesterday. Strickland pointed out that half of the nation’s public school children on school buses are not enough, and that three-quarters or all students, while not realistic, would be optimal. “Busing is the best way to get your child to school period,” he said dur-


ing the NASDPTS meeting, adding that children are 50 times safer on the school bus than in other vehicles during the normal school-time commutes. Te key is getting the word out to parents about the safety, environ-


mental and cost benefits. Additionally, he said NHTSA is eyeing potential rulemaking on electronic stability controls and vehicle-to-vehicle commu- nication and crash-avoidance systems, which could reduce non-impaired driving crashes by up to 80 percent. NTSB has been championing just such an approach, as Hersman reiterated. Over the weekend, school bus flammability, and a recent bus explosion


in Iowa, provided NASDTPS members with additional data to consider with regard to draft guidelines drawn up by the School Bus Manufacturers Tech-


OCT. 21 - OCT. 27 | 2011


NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said yesterday that he wants to see much more than half of the nation’s public school children riding school buses because of the safety, environmental and costs benefits the yellow vehicles provide society.


Mark Aesch, CEO of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transit Authority in New York state, kicked off the NAPT Summit with a general session Sunday on how student transportation departments can use data-driven information to not only survive this economy but succeed.


NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman encouraged the school bus industry to help identify new school bus and motorcoach issues to investigate.


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