INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS HERDING BUFFALO (RIDERS) WITH


LAP/SHOULDER BELTS In November, Buffalo Public Schools’ school board approved an


amended school bus ridership policy that requires students to use new three-point seat belts in 125 buses provided by contractor First Student. At the start of the school year the new school buses went into service, and Transportation Director Al Diamico said feedback from drivers, students and parents alike has been positive. Te lap/shoulder restraints are installed on SafeGuard Flex


Seats, and First Student will update the remainder of its 630- bus fleet by the summer of 2014. All student riders must wear the restraint systems and be trained on proper usage at least three times a year. John Fahey, Buffalo’s former assistant superintendent and now


a consultant with Tyler Technologies, managed the bid process that led to equipping the fleet with the three-point systems after personally investigating an average of 80 school bus crashes each school year. “I have witnessed firsthand how compartmentalization works,


but during the course of my investigations, I saw way too many accidents where the kids were jostled around the compartment and I wish they had been restrained,” Fahey explained. “Tere’s a long-standing dichotomy about seat belts in this industry. Seat belts are everywhere else. Tat never sat well with me.” Effective immediately, bus drivers and bus aides are required to enforce belt usage by all student riders on the three-point belt


Transportation Director Al Diamico shows off the new lap/ shoulder belt seats at Buffalo Public Schools.


equipped buses. For all other Buffalo buses still using lap belts, parents must decide if they want their children to use seat belts and notify the bus driver of their wishes. Te amended policy also states that the district cannot guarantee to parents that their children will remain buckled in those legacy buses. Te transportation policy already required a minimum of three


school bus emergency drills be conducted each school year. Te drills include evacuations, loading and unloading, crossing the street at least 10 feet in front of the bus, inclement weather, and student discipline. In all, Buffalo transports nearly 27,000 students each day, one


way, more than half of the total student enrollment of more than 43,000.


A HISTORIC PARTNERSHIP TO CLEAN AIR, IMPROVE FUEL ECONOMY Several suppliers to the school bus industry applauded a pro-


posed rule issued in the fall by the EPA and NHTSA that attempts to tag team the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and increased fuel efficiency of commercial vehicles, including school buses in the vocational vehicle category. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Transportation Secretary


GIDDYUP … TO SCHOOL Fourth graders at Sanders Intermediate School in Cobb County,


Ga., experienced how Americans traveled during the 19th century as the Wells Fargo stagecoach paid the school a visit in November. As part of the company’s arrival in Georgia, the stagecoach visited five elementary schools across metro Atlanta. Principal Pamela Dingle and 150 students braved the rainy weather to take rides in the horse-drawn stagecoach, with assistance provided by local Wells Fargo personnel. Te stagecoach visit was aligned with the fourth grade curriculum, as students have studied westward ex- pansion in recent weeks. Wells Fargo also provided supplemental materials on the history of the stagecoach.


14 School Transportation News Magazine January 2011


Ray LaHood announced on Oct. 25 the “historic” NPRM that would reduce GHG emissions by 250 million metric tons and would save about 500 million barrels of oil during the life cycles of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold between 2014 and 2018. Public comment closed on Jan. 3. School buses fall under one of three categories of heavy trucks


being targeted by EPA and NHTSA, the other two being combi- nation tractors and heavy-duty pickups and vans. For vocational vehicles, the agencies are proposing engine and vehicle standards starting in the 2014 model year which would achieve up to a 10 percent reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by the 2018 model year. Light-heavy class 3 through 5 vehicles would need to meet EPA’s goal of 344g of CO2 emissions per ton-mile by the 2017 model year and NHTSA’s fuel consumption standard of 33.8 gallons per 1,000 ton-mile. Te targets fall to 204g of CO2 and 20 gallons for class 6 and 7 vehicles and 107g of CO2 and 10.5 gallons for class 8 vehicles.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60