School Bus - The past and the present
A school bus is used to transport students to and from their respective schools. They are used all over the world. Read more in this article on this page on this site.
The school bus has certainly evolved over time since the late 1800’s and by 1886, Wayne Works, who was the predecessor of Wayne Corporation, was making horse-drawn carriages which people referred to as “hacks.” Over the years, changes were made the vehicles were brought up to the standards that were required of them and by 1939, the school bus was the popular and familiar yellow color of which they are today. The color yellow was chosen for it because it was easiest to notice and the black lettering on it was easier to read.
By the mid 1940’s, laws were put into place to require motorists to stop for buses as they were loading or unloading children. Reasons for this were because smaller children don’t really have the mental capacity developed yet to understand the dangers of crossing the roads without adult supervision. Also because the size of the school bus generally limits the visibility for both the children and the motorists while the children are getting on and off. In the late 1940’s, safety lights were developed for it to indicate when it was slowing down and or stopping.
In the 1970’s, the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for the school bus became applicable. Some of these laws are still extremely important today. Along with these efforts included more comprehensive mirror systems to be used on the school bus to help the drivers see the children after they were off of it. There were also crossing gates that were developed to help children who walked directly in front of it. Reflective striping and strobe lights were added in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Today, you may be surprised to find amenities on a school bus such as air conditioning, two-way radios and wheelchair lifts. Video cameras have also been installed on some as well primarily to monitor and record the behavior of the passengers on board.
Statistics on the web have shown that in the United States alone, approximately 440,000 buses travel more than 4 billion miles a year and are responsible for transporting 25 million children daily to and from their schools and for their related activities. A school bus accounts for about 10 million student trips every year. Basically this means that approximately 54% of students in elementary through twelfth ride a yellow school bus.