Join us in an open-ended conversation about children and school buses – and the people who bring them together.
This might not mean human trafficking or exploitation in every one of those situations, but it does indicate that school transportation professionals are positioned to see the signs and, with proper training, can report suspicions to the right place.
We will keep everyone updated as to the latest information on our efforts and are planning our 2023 NSTA Bus-In to coordinate with the Congressional calendar at the end of April. We are hoping to resume pre-COVID events with a day full of meetings with members and staff to advocate for our industry.
While purchase orders for new school buses increased overall, production lines continue to struggle to meet demand in a timely manner due to ongoing supply chain issues. School districts might order a new bus today but not actually see it loading up with students until 2024.
These common characteristics inspired me to choose student transportation as my vocation, and the theme of my remarks centered on the fact that industry has been and will continue to be “stronger together." For me, this phrase is not just a catchy slogan, I truly believe it.
Not only did the EPA get enough demand to exhaust the $500 million during the first round of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, but they also felt compelled to nearly double the pot to help as many applicants as possible.
One year later, we’ve pushed past our first goal of 100 subscribers on our School Bus Fleet YouTube channel. Thanks to everyone who subscribed so far, and to those who’ve helped spread the word about The Route.
The Pennsylvania School Bus Association takes the opportunity to commend "safety heroes" during National School Bus Safety Week, Oct. 17-21.
It also helps to have an advisor or partner who is “fuel agnostic”—not tied to a specific fuel type. The right partner can help develop a comprehensive plan to guide your transition and work with you along the way.
It’s hard to believe I’ve already been at the wheel of School Bus Fleet for a year. A lot of the job has been drinking from the firehose of information – the alphabet soup of associations, the different types of buses, the varieties of equipment, the manufacturers, the rules and regulations. I’ve taken in a lot, but there’s so much more to absorb and process.
Looking ahead, the National School Transportation Association hopes to see more states taking advantage of the "under-the-hood" CDL waiver.
Disruptive behavior, sometimes caused by these summer breaks, is on the rise and can prove particularly challenging during the first six weeks of the school year, Brooke Garcia said. In those instances, “the driver needs to the thermostat in the bus, rather than the thermometer.”
Harvesting, analyzing, and acting on data is a never-ending requirement in fleet management. With EVs, the need increases exponentially — and requires new systems, networks, and apps to manage and integrate.
The past two years have been anything but normal, and that required us to cancel our Bus‐In events for both 2020 and 2021. These cancellations did not mean that the association’s advocacy efforts shut down for the better part of two years.
The EPA has indicated that the next phase of the program may be more focused on grants rather than rebates, which might be more appealing to school districts across the financial spectrum. But even if they hand out millions of up-front dollars to buy new electric buses, it can be a risky investment without proper planning.
The EPA’s approach to federal support for electrification begs the question if it will be accessible to districts that need it the most. The FTA’s phased model provides an attractive transition period for scaling; could it work for student transportation as well?
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