SPECIAL REPORT How to Best Promote Yellow School Bus Benefits
By Michelle Fisher Te yellow school bus may be considered as American as apple
pie. An icon since the 1930s, today, there are as many opinions on how to provide effective student transportation services as there are parts within the iconic vehicle. But industry professionals do agree on one point: they must mobilize to preserve, and strengthen, the school bus’ unique role within the U.S. public education system. “Transportation is often not perceived as being there to serve kids
and, ultimately, that is what we’re here to do. Odds are, it’s going to be far more efficient with teamwork,” said Pete Meslin, transporta- tion director at Newport-Mesa Unified School District in California. Meslin supports the American School Bus Council’s proposal
to obtain $5 million from existing U.S. Department of Transporta- tion funds to launch a public outreach campaign promoting three key messages: school buses are the safest choice for students, are the greenest motorized choice and help to promote learning. “I think this ASBC effort was needed about 20 years ago,” Mes-
lin said. “Te budget axe is falling everywhere, and we’re getting our share of it as well. Partially it’s because we haven’t convinced decision makers that transportation is essential.” Meslin notes that his socioeconomically diverse district in
Southern California’s Orange County has managed to stay one step ahead of major budget cuts by trimming school bus routes, rescheduling bell times and relocating programs. “Tere’s a trend for transportation departments to work on
their own, but we work very closely with the special education department and others in the elementary, middle and high schools to discuss bell times, therapy times, class locations, walk- ing zones, etc., so we can come up with a team decision,” he said. Because public perception is at the heart of this new cam-
paign, Meslin said he thinks the “green” approach can sell the benefits of the school bus by focusing on conservation, reducing traffic congestion and lowering fuel costs. Only student safety ranks higher on the list of priorities, according to Meslin and other industry professionals.
MORE CONVENIENCE, LESS SAFETY? Don Carnahan, past president of NAPT, NASDPTS and NSTA,
modifies this formula to reflect his view that changing student eligibility requirements is the surest way to boost bus-ridership numbers. To him, less eligibility equals more young people walk- ing to school, which also means less safety.
Cont’d on p. 32 Often imitated,
never duplicated. With tens of thousands of seats already in field service, SafeGuard is leading the way in belted seating for school buses. SafeGuard seats, equipped with exclusive SmartFrame™ technology, offer advantages unmatched by any other seat in the industry.
• The only belted seats offering full compartmentalization for unbelted passengers in school buses and motorcoaches.
• Lowest total cost of maintenance with modular design for quick, first-in-class serviceability.
SafeGuard FlexSeat® Patent Pending. Resolving the capacity issue since October 2007.
• Proven in side-by-side dynamic testing to outperform all competitive products on the market.
Clearly a step ahead, SafeGuard innovates practical solutions to real transportation problems, redefining what school districts expect from belted seating.
safeguardseat.com One seat fits all.® 28 School Transportation News Magazine June 2010 Equipped with exclusive SmartFrame TECHNOLOGY ™
©2009 IMMI All rights reserved. 07/09
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