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The horrific beating of a 13-year-old school bus passenger by three 15-year-olds has sparked heated media coverage recently. It seems that most of the ire has been aimed at the bus driver, with many observers suggesting that he should have done more to help the victim. The uproar raises a few nagging questions in my mind. ...
Read More →In the August 2013 issue of SBF, I wrote a feature titled “Tips and Tools to Select Safe Stops,” where pupil transportation officials from operations around the country shared with me various components to ensuring that their bus stop locations are safe for students. Here, I’ll share with you some of their tips and insight that didn’t make it into the feature.
Read More →There’s no good way around it: We have to turn left sometimes, often without the “protection” of a solid green arrow. For school bus drivers, training to “perfect the art” of knowing the bus and how to steer it will allow them to focus on watching out for objects in the intersection. ...
Read More →A big step was recently made on the road to recovery at Alabama's Dale County Schools following the death of bus driver Charles Poland: a new driver has been assigned to his former route. The Dothan Eagle reports that Melinda Campbell has connected with Poland's passengers by talking about him. This got me thinking about how pupil transportation operations cope with tragedy.
Read More →By and large, people who work in pupil transportation do what they do because they care about kids. Likewise, I'm convinced that most folks who work in pupil transportation also care about people in general. That came to mind when I heard about what pupil transporters in Little Egg Harbor, N.J., are doing. ...
Read More →My jaunt took place at BusWest, a Thomas Built Buses dealership in Carson, Calif., and I drove a Saf-T-Liner C2 unit. Driving a school bus was a goal that we at SBF set so that I could get a better sense of what school bus drivers face on a daily basis in terms of maneuvering such a large vehicle on the road.
Read More →I recently read a story from the Ridgefield Park Patriot about a New Jersey high school that has specific transportation requirements in order for students to attend their prom. The board of education requires students to take a school-vetted coach bus service that is paid for by the board if they want to attend prom. This is the first I’ve heard of such a policy, and I’m curious to know if it’s commonplace.
Read More →Patience. In a recent survey, that was the most common answer to the question above. One survey respondent explained it as “patience when teaching; not everyone learns the same way.” The second most common response ...
Read More →I find that I tend to have at least a little more time during the summer months to work on goals for the magazine and our website beyond my usual tasks that are sometimes a challenge to fit into my days during the early and latter parts of the year. With summer just around the corner, I’m curious to read about how the summer months stack up for you, both professionally and personally.
Read More →In an unusual ad campaign in South Korea, the smell of Dunkin' Donuts coffee was wafted into transit buses. While we don't want to encourage kids to run to the nearest donut shop, could other types of soothing odors be used on a school bus to keep passengers calm? ...
Read More →Next month, I’m scheduled to not just ride a school bus, I’ll actually be driving the bus. We set this goal so that I can get a better sense of what you and your drivers face on a daily basis in terms of maneuvering such a large vehicle on the road. To prepare, I've been driving ...
Read More →Yes, talking and texting with cell phones is a major factor in automotive crashes. And many states have banned drivers from using cell phones. But there was distracted driving before cell phones, and there will always be many other ways to be distracted while driving. Hard as they may try ...
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