SPECIAL REPORT
What Do School Bus Drivers Want to Increase Safety?
Written by Ruth Ashmore |
ruth@stnonline.com
First Student school bus drivers for charter school KIPP Texas in Austin discuss training needs during a 2023 meeting. T
he concept of school buses as an extension of the classroom is not new. However, being onboard the yellow school bus also presents unique challenges for drivers, as they manage
not only the safety of the students they’re transporting but their own safety behind the wheel. School Transportation News asked members of several
Facebook school bus driver groups what practices or training they felt would increase overall safety onboard the school bus this school year. The responses were split between technological solutions such as using GPS, stop-arm cameras and air conditioning to receiving more administration support, especially when handling student behavior and providing bus aides. Cynthia Rubio, director of student transportation at
KIPP Texas, a charter school network with campuses in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio that contracts with First Student for school bus services, stressed the importance of furthering driver safety through strong relationships with partner vendors. Rubio collaborated with Chris Olds, district manager for First Student, in responding to questions for this article. “We have fully embraced onboard technologies that
18 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2024
enhance safety and surround our students with care. Combining safety and care is our mindset, one that’s shared by our transportation partners, First Student,” said Rubio. Meanwhile, Sharon Hipps oversees a fleet of 71 buses
with 54 drivers for White County School Systems in rural northeastern Georgia. The director of transportation explained how the different parts of technology on the school bus at her district help to advance safety. First on the list is illuminated school bus signs on the front and rear of the bus, to increase visibility. Drivers in the Facebook groups also commented that in addition to the illuminated signs, they want to have more stop-arms with cameras to catch incidents of illegal passing. Hipps said another new addition has been a naviga-
tion system, which one driver in a Facebook group said he believed should be common onboard buses. “GPS/ navigation screens for us trip drivers and at the very least a dash indicator showing what direction you’re going as North, South, East, West. Standard on cars forever now. Still absent from buses,” he added. Back in Texas, Rubio explained how First Student driv-
PHOTO COURTESY OF CYNTHIA RUBIO, KIPP TEXAS TRANSPORTATION
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