Since transportation expenses constitute 7% to 10% of a typical school budget, it is not surprising that transportation departments have been under a microscope lately. Everyone on the district's decision-making team, from the school board and school superintendent to the managers who oversee each component of the transportation department, is…

The number of children injured in nonfatal school bus accidents annually is more than double the number previously estimated. In Ohio alone, approximately 20,800 children younger than 18 were occupants of school buses that were involved in crashes in 2003 and 2004 (McGeehan 2007). Among those children, most had minor or no injuries. However, there…

The economic crisis has had--and will continue to have--a dramatic effect on tax revenue and education spending throughout the United States and beyond. Yet children still show up for school every day in need of an education. In times like these, educators and school business managers must be as committed as ever to providing it. The economic…

Background: Walking to school has been identified as an activity that contributes to children's daily exercise requirements. The purpose of this study was to better understand factors that influence walking to school by elementary school-aged children. Methods: A sample of 1,897 elementary school-aged children (84% response rate; 3rd-5th graders)…

Children's social interactions are often dependent upon the setting or context in which they occur. The current study explored the school bus as a unique context for social interaction. One hundred and fifty-seven elementary school students (78 males and 79 females), in grades 3, 4, and 5, completed a questionnaire concerning the rate and types of…

Across a giant swath of desert and mountain terrain southeast of Tucson, one yellow school bus has been carrying an extra passenger since last fall. Along with dozens of students, the bus rolls through the Vail School District's most far-flung portions equipped with a wireless router. It delivers the Internet to students for as many as three hours…

Violence and natural catastrophes have made schools and universities more vigilant about protecting students and staff on their campuses. Students and workers also need to get to and from their schools, and once on a campus, they need to get from one facility to another. In this article, the author suggests that administrators must make sure…

Many school districts in North America have adopted policies to permit cameras on their properties and, when needed, on buses used to transport students. With regard to school buses, the camera is typically a tool for gathering information to monitor behavior or to help investigate a complaint about behavior. If a picture is worth a thousand…

Decontextualized conversational talk has been recognized as an important foundation for young children's early literacy and academic success. In this study, the authors explore the tape-recorded conversations of 15 typically developing preschool-age children. The children's talk was recorded as they traveled home from preschool on a school bus…

Over the past year, a team of transportation engineers, product designers, and therapists has been writing a series of articles about wheelchair transportation safety in partnership with "EP." These experts understand the importance of transportation for social inclusion, maintaining health, and being able to get to school and work. Previous…

This article reports that with fuel prices soaring nationwide, reaching more than $4 for each gallon of gas or diesel, school districts are struggling to supplement transportation-budget shortfalls and find ways to offset the increasing costs as a new school year approaches. Now districts--most of whose buses run on diesel fuel--are scrambling to…

Riding on a school bus is one of the safest forms of transportation in the U.S. Every year 450,000 public school buses travel more than 4.3 billion miles to transport 23.5 million children to and from school and school related activities. Students are reportedly eight times safer on the school bus than they are in cars. However, the percentage of…

Every school day bus drivers are responsible for transporting children safely over many miles, yet they are rarely polled for their opinions or contributions to school safety. School bus drivers are in a unique position to inform the discussion on aggressive behavior during the school day. This exploratory study collected information from school…

Optional safety features offered by school bus manufacturers are described. These include design changes, automated crossing arms, convex mirrors, strobe lights, and sound warning devices. (TE)

Describes school bus safety products currently on the market, such as motion-sensing alarms, automatic breaking shields, front-mounted crossing gates, and strobe lights. Gives price information and evaluates products' usefulness and necessity. (MLH)