Our experience clearly demonstrates that the best approach to fire suppression in school bus transportation is using a water-based system as opposed to a dry-powder system. Dry powder is sometimes used in pupil transportation fire suppression systems, but a water-based system is much more efficient at quickly knocking down the flame source and keeping it […]

The most important thing to remember about fire suppression is that suppression is the operative term. If you apply enough heat to any vehicle or fuel, it will burn down regardless of an onboard extinguisher or fire suppression system. No onboard fire suppression system will be 100 percent effective at extinguishing fires 100 percent of […]

When I worked as a professional lobbyist, I trained our clients in grassroots advocacy strategies. The credo of our firm focused on enabling average New Yorkers to speak out for themselves as the strongest form of advocacy. We believed that every citizen should learn about and develop their capacity for speaking out about – and […]

In February, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) announced its commitment to replace 326 of its diesel school buses with electric school buses over the next four years. School BUSRide spoke with Todd Watkins, the MCPS director of transportation, about this exciting development and the thought processes behind it. How did all of this come together? […]

Barry Sudduth is the immediate past president of the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) and current executive director of transportation for Stafford County Public Schools (https://www.staffordschools.net/) in Virginia. He also serves as the chair of NAPT’s Professional Growth Committee. Sudduth has served as executive director for the past eight years and prior to his […]

Colorado has some of the most stringent state and district-specific compliance requirements for student transportation in the country. Colorado districts serve students with special needs, students who fall under the McKinney-Vento Act, medically-fragile kids, and foster youth – and many districts take advantage of the state’s numerous specialty schools for these students. Twenty-three of the […]

School BUSRide spoke with Chad Carpenter, director of pupil transportation for the state of Alabama, about the most pressing issues in his state; how the Alabama Department of Education responded to 2020’s challenges, and his thoughts regarding the best path forward. What are the most pressing issues facing student transportation in Alabama? Driver shortage is […]

School BUSRide recently spoke with Charlie Hood, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS). Hood will retire in March after a career spanning almost 40 years. How did you first get into the school bus and school transportation industry? I started out in education, having graduated from Florida […]

By Tim Ammon and Tom Platt The turning of the calendar means that we are all getting settled into a new year and, in this year, a new presidential administration. While it seems unlikely that, to turn a phrase, the new boss will be the same as the old boss, a core set of challenges […]

By Daniel Thompson School buses are largely safe – but until every single child gets to school and back unharmed, we have to keep innovating. Nearly 15 students die each year in school transportation-related incidents in the U.S., with about five of those fatalities caused by passing motorists, according to The National Association for Pupil […]