Making positive changes at a new operation

With budget cuts in effect, it is imperative to save the district money in any way possible, from route changes to regulating driver hours to obtaining a top-of-the-line preventive maintenance program.

First Student to serve Ohio district under 10-year contract

The company will begin providing transportation services for Valley View Local Schools in Germantown on July 1, and First Student will install additional safety features on the district's school buses, including GPS, onboard digital video cameras and Child Check-Mate electronic reminder systems. In other news, First Student President Linda Burtwistle receives the 2013 Ohio Glass Ceiling Award, which honors women in leadership positions.

Micro Bird Type A completes Altoona testing

The manufacturer submitted the G5 lift bus for a 7-year/200,000-mile STURAA test (Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987) last fall, and testing was completed in February. The unit was tested on maintainability, reliability, safety, performance, structural integrity, fuel economy, noise and emissions.

Program makes bus driver certification more efficient

Tennessee launches the THP Pupil Transportation Certification application, which replaces a paper-based manual process. Officials expect the program’s mobile and web-based components to provide substantial savings in time and expense and a significant reduction in errors due to manual entry.

Vintage School Buses

School buses loaded with supplies for tornado victims

Student transportation provider Durham School Services is collecting emergency supplies for the victims of the devastating storm in Oklahoma. Students from Guthrie, Okla., have also brought a school bus stocked with supplies to Moore, which was hit by a tornado that was more than a mile wide.

Colorado’s David Anderson added to <I>SBF</i> advisory board

Anderson, the director of transportation and fleet service at Adams 12 Five Star Schools, joins eight other industry luminaries on the SCHOOL BUS FLEET editorial advisory board, which provides vital input for the magazine and website.

Cuts proposed to Connecticut school transportation funding

The budget approved by the state Senate's appropriations committee would eliminate funding for public and non-public school transportation by some $28 million per year. A coalition of education, municipal and legislative officials calls for the restoration of funding.

Texas district’s transportation services honored for sustainability

The Houston Independent School District wins the National Association of Fleet Administrators Excellence in Public Fleet Sustainability award for 2013. The district is recognized for its use of alternative fuels and partnership with the University of Houston to test a school bus filter that will convert smog-producing pollutants emitted from engines into water and nitrogen gas.

REMINDER: <I>SBF</i> Photo Contest returns

The deadline for SCHOOL BUS FLEET’s Ninth Annual Photo Contest has been extended to Friday, May 24. Three winners will receive a $100 cash prize.