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mr.dave
Advanced Member

USA
414 Posts

Posted - 12/01/2001 :  10:45:39 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
How should school buses treat gated neighborhoods or appartments? Much of our radio traffic is drivers trying to get gate codes which change overnight. Buses get trapped in narrow allys inside complexes, or snag carports and dumpsters. My belief is busses should stay on public steets, and gates treated as the student's frount door.


Steven A.Rosenow
Top Member

USA
1926 Posts

Posted - 12/01/2001 :  12:52:57 PM  Show Profile  Visit Steven A.Rosenow's Homepage  Send Steven A.Rosenow an AOL message  Send Steven A.Rosenow a Yahoo! Message  Reply with Quote
I lived in a Lake Cushman, WA community, which was a very private, upscale community near Lake Cushman, WA about five miles west of Hoodsport, WA. When I lived there, the roads in the community were barely wide enough to accomodate a school bus, so the only school buses allowed inside were the small special needs ones. The transits had bus route stops at the "gateway" drives along State Route 119 (we called it Lk. Cushman Hwy), which picked up the students who rode the full size transit school buses. That meant that parents would have to drive their kids to the bus stop, or within walkihng distance like me, had to walk.

They didn't have access gates, where ya had to enter a code

I think if they can fit without snagging anything, and can fit through there with ease, then they can go in. If not, they should stay out.


"Preserving America's best - THE GILLIG! - THE BEST NEVER REST" http://www.geocities.com/gilligcoaches/
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Thomas Ford 85-16
Top Member

USA
4177 Posts

Posted - 12/01/2001 :  2:22:35 PM  Show Profile  Visit Thomas Ford 85-16's Homepage  Send Thomas Ford 85-16 an AOL message  Reply with Quote
Here, if it's gated, the buses can't go in. I'm not sure about special needs, though. In most cases, if it is a private subdivision, gated or not, the bus cannot go in. Nor can a mail truck or anything like that.

Stop at: www.buses.cjb.net
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MamaLoca
Advanced Member

USA
400 Posts

Posted - 12/01/2001 :  2:51:25 PM  Show Profile  Visit MamaLoca's Homepage  Send MamaLoca an AOL message  Reply with Quote
Here in Canandaigua, NY we don't have Gated Communities but we do have many Private roads. If the Town doesn't p[low it the buses don't go down it. The students must walk to the end of the driveway (private road)

Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to.
http://www.canandaiguaschools.org/bus/
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wagonmaster
Top Member

USA
2298 Posts

Posted - 12/01/2001 :  6:42:02 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
We have numerous gated communities in our county. We generally don't go into them unless it's just to utilize their "turnaround" area.
Joe

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1983WardFord
Top Member

USA
1395 Posts

Posted - 12/01/2001 :  7:39:27 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
In one of the districts I sub for, there is a gated community. The designers made the streets wide enough to accommodate school bus traffic; therefore there is no problem driving through it (I subbed on one of those routes recently). Also, the gates are open for a better part of the school day, except for in the morning. The buses that drive in there, I believe, have some sort of garage door opener-type deal that allows them access to this community. In my opinion, the people who thought this up were on the ball.

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John Farr
Top Member

USA
642 Posts

Posted - 12/01/2001 :  9:47:17 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
One of our schools has a special entrance for buses which requires a gate opener. So, almost all of our buses are equipped with a gate opener so they can access this school. We had an access problem in a gated community which called for a sped bus to enter. Our driver had kids on board and could not get out of the bus to enter a code. The management of the gated community fully cooperated with us and had a separate receiver installed which corresponded to our school bus opener code. The gate will always open for us - even if they change the code for their residents.

It helped when I casually mentioned ADA requirements to the manager of the complex. :)

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wagonmaster
Top Member

USA
2298 Posts

Posted - 12/02/2001 :  05:15:02 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Hey John,
What do you if that bus is down, or in an accident?
Joe

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Phil4747
Top Member

USA
695 Posts

Posted - 12/02/2001 :  2:48:20 PM  Show Profile  Send Phil4747 an AOL message  Reply with Quote
I think he meant that they upgraded the gate at the community to respond to the same opener they use at the school, the one that all of their buses are equipped with.

—Phil

"It's the same way some people are obsessed with cars. I'm just weird."
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Sherm
Top Member

USA
621 Posts

Posted - 12/03/2001 :  12:55:39 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
My $0.02 worth...

If you choose to live in a gated community or at the end of a brand-new 3/4 mile street that ends in a cul-de-sac, don't complain because my buses don't fit or don't have room to turn around. As a school transportation director, this is a part of the job that is a big pain in the backside every year. If your kids must walk and can do so safely, let them walk! (many parents get "safety" and "convenience" mixed up.) I won't risk life and property for the sake of convenience, especially for older students. If it's a kindergarten student we can usually work something out.

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Bus Boy 39
Top Member

USA
1315 Posts

Posted - 12/04/2001 :  03:36:12 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
All of our housing plans have buses going into them, some of them even have more then three buses in them! My plan has three buses going into it.

We have one plan were there is a cul-de-sac, and buses do go down that cul-de-sac. Of course both of them are FE All American Blue Birds which have a good turning radius. One of them is even a 84 passenger!

"Gotta Love Those Birdies!"
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BlueBird44
Top Member

USA
1639 Posts

Posted - 12/04/2001 :  05:53:22 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Most of our Community have a little place eithier along the rode for people who live in there to come too or a little loop right at the drive you come in where they trun around and the shed is for the kids to stand in. I know of two devlopments that have the buses come in and turn around they give door to door because the streets wide enough.

BlueBird44-"44 Best Bus EVER!"
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Dr. Ray Turner
Active Member

USA
46 Posts

Posted - 12/14/2001 :  8:55:42 PM  Show Profile  Visit Dr. Ray Turner's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Gated community service is for special needs buses only. All other students can and should walk outside the apartment complex gate to the safest bus stop location at the curb. For special education service, there are many students with wheelchairs, the medically fragile, the blind, autistic students, special needs "runners" and others who require door-to-door service not gate-to-gate service and require the special needs bus to enter the gate. IF the gate is not working for some reason then our radio message back to the dispatcher results in a call to the parents to pick the child outside the gate. Repeated calls to parents to do this for their special needs child usually will result in their talking to the complex management to solve the school bus gate access problems for their child. If the child's parents are not at home inside the gated community and we cannot enter the gate for any reason then we return the special needs child to our school district police department where parents must go to get their child. We notify the parents by phone or by note at the manager's office if their child has been taken to the police department--giving address, phone and the REQUIREMENT that the parent pick them up there.

Dr. Ray Turner
210-614-1395
210-614-1396 FAX
drturner@earthlink.net
www.whitebuffalopress.com

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largebus
Advanced Member

USA
468 Posts

Posted - 01/19/2002 :  11:07:55 AM  Show Profile  Visit largebus's Homepage  Send largebus an AOL message  Reply with Quote
I think that for any kind of an apartment complex there should be a covered bus stop that is supervised for all the kids to wait in. Special needs buses should attempt door to door if possible, but lets face, maneuvering a 45 foot long bus in tight quarters is not easy and takes time. But private roads/communities/etc should put the stop in an area easily supervised.

"If it's long, wide and high with wheels it's a bus. If it's yellow with black stripes it's a school bus"
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Silas J.
Top Member

USA
938 Posts

Posted - 01/19/2002 :  11:46:54 AM  Show Profile  Send Silas J. an AOL message  Send Silas J. an ICQ Message  Click to see Silas J.'s MSN Messenger address  Send Silas J. a Yahoo! Message  Reply with Quote
I think we have door-to-door everywhere in the county,with very few exeptions(i.e. roads that cannot be turned around on,apartment,ect.).We don't have any gated communities,so that helps.Special Ed sometimes gets doorstep service.
Silas J.

97-12 It will outrun your bus.
Unicoi County Schools~Working For Children

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