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Old 02-25-2012, 02:30 PM
 
4,709 posts, read 12,705,632 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliTerp07 View Post
Oh, I'm sure there are parts of California that still have them! But Goleta/Santa Barbara and the surrounding areas did not--except for physically handicapped kids or kids who lived more than 15 miles from school (basically, ranch kids)....

I'm fairly certain that pupil transportation is NOT required by law anywhere, except for special ed (short bus), which receives Federal funding. I've read that school districts all over the country have stopped providing gen ed transportation...they have no money for it. And it IS expensive....I think FCPS spends like $130,000,000 per year on pupil transportation. Push come to shove, I suppose it could happen here.

I have heard high-ups in FCPS say that they don't feel they could compel school attendance if they did not provide transportation. Sure, school attendance is required by law up 'til a certain age, but who would enforce it on a scale like you would have with no buses?

Obviously, we too have areas like yours in Cali where school buses wouldn't be missed....but how about in the slums of Lincolnia...Morningside, Orleans Village, etc? I've done runs out of there and there are single bus stops that take THREE buses, crammed to the gills, to pick up. I think a lot of those kids just wouldn't go to school without the buses. I imagine the scores would go up at Weyanoke, though...LOL

Last edited by car54; 02-25-2012 at 02:39 PM..
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Old 02-25-2012, 02:37 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
Here's whatI think Car54 and Irvine are referring to, if Google Images is correct:

That's it! Ain't it beautiful in it's art deco glory?

They had an underfloor, midship mounted engine (most were Detroit Diesel) connected to a Fuller manual tranny....I'd LOVE to take one for a spin!
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Old 02-25-2012, 02:58 PM
 
Location: New-Dentist Colony
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Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
That's it! Ain't it beautiful in it's art deco glory?

They had an underfloor, midship mounted engine (most were Detroit Diesel) connected to a Fuller manual tranny....I'd LOVE to take one for a spin!
A handsome steed indeed!

I wonder if it would be legal for a regular person to just buy one of these and drive it for commuting purposes (removing the "School Bus" markings, of course).
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Old 02-25-2012, 03:26 PM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
A handsome steed indeed!

I wonder if it would be legal for a regular person to just buy one of these and drive it for commuting purposes (removing the "School Bus" markings, of course).
My husband's childhood church had several old school buses (one painted bright green, the other bright purple) that they used for youth group trips and such. I don't see why you couldn't drive a school bus if it no longer looked like a school bus.
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Old 02-25-2012, 03:29 PM
 
Location: Northern Virginia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
I think a lot of those kids just wouldn't go to school without the buses. I imagine the scores would go up at Weyanoke, though...LOL
Yeah, I teach at one of the middle schools where for a significant portion of the school population, if the kid oversleeps and misses the bus, they just don't come.

Are the elementary schools for those areas not within walking distance? I know the middle/high schools aren't.
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Old 02-25-2012, 07:57 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
A handsome steed indeed!

I wonder if it would be legal for a regular person to just buy one of these and drive it for commuting purposes (removing the "School Bus" markings, of course).

Oh yeah, lots of the nuts on my school bus forum own fully restored, vintage school buses that are yellow and sport all their lettering, except of course, for the beltline lettering (school district). The real oldies are not yellow....the yellow school bus was not born until 1939....I saw a restored 1920 Model T school bus that was it's original dark green. Some states do require that the traffic warning lights be disabled...they can remain on the bus, but cannot be operational.

One guy on that site has 3 or 4 Crowns, a couple of Gilligs, and a rare Kenworth school bus, and an even rarer Mack....all fully restored and in top running condition. I'd like to buy and restore an old school bus myself, but the wife promises me that my stuff will be out on the street if I were to ever bring an old bus home...

I don't know if anybody would want to commute in an old school bus...they drink diesel fuel and parking a car is tough enough in a lot of places, let alone a 40 foot bus!

That reminds me, though...when I was living in an apartment in South Arlington in the mid '70s, I had a rather eccentric neighbor that bought an old school bus and painted it blue (with a brush and roller!) and he actually drove it into DC everyday, picking people up at bus stops and other points along the way. He knew better than to charge them though...that would have violated all sorts of ICC laws...but he did have a "donation" cup on the dashboard that he said produced more than enough revenue to cover his fuel and maintenance. (this was before HOV lanes existed, so "slugging" hadn't been invented yet, thus his riders didn't expect a free ride). That guy was a character!

Last edited by car54; 02-25-2012 at 08:05 PM..
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Old 03-02-2012, 03:29 PM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
While I'm sure most TJ students could handle the Metro system responsibly (though I've met a few that couldn't tell me their address), some other students may not be able to. Imagine the outcry if county students ended up in, say SE DC and something bad happened to them? I tend to doubt that they would want to be a party to anything like that...

SE DC?

You mean like they might buy a $400k condo based on convenience to the ballpark - you're right, that would be terrible.

I know what you meant - just its amusing that people always overlook whats happening in NEAR southeast.

As for he control issues, I hear you. Of course FCPS builds parking lots that kids drive to. Im pretty sure bad things happen to those teen drivers routinely. But riding a bus is scary dont ya know, and the possibility of ending up, in, my god, the city, on a bus is worse.
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Old 03-02-2012, 03:35 PM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
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Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
I think the ideal situation would be to have every home no more than a mile walk to an elementary, middle, and high school. If that were the case (and there were sidewalks the whole way), then I think school buses would not be necessary for most kids.
For middle and high schools that raises issues of, er, density. Even arlington and Alex would have difficulty attaining that.

Good point on routes though.


National Center for Safe Routes to School
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Old 03-02-2012, 08:32 PM
 
4,709 posts, read 12,705,632 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brooklynborndad View Post
...As for he control issues, I hear you. Of course FCPS builds parking lots that kids drive to. Im pretty sure bad things happen to those teen drivers routinely. But riding a bus is scary dont ya know, and the possibility of ending up, in, my god, the city, on a bus is worse.

Yes, but to my knowledge, FCPS does not encourage students to drive to school. They don't, for example, subsidize their fuel costs. They simply allow students, with parental consent and after payment of a parking fee, to use surplus parking spaces during the school day.

Just my opinion, but I seriously doubt if they care if students utilize Metro for their transportation needs....they probably just don't want to be a party to it in any way.

Incidentally, until recently, FCPS paid several million dollars annually for taxi rides for students whom they were required to transport to school, but because of the circumstances, buses were not feasible. They are now transported in county-owned vans. I don't know if this was strictly an economic move or if they had other concerns...
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Old 03-03-2012, 04:45 AM
 
Location: Fairfax County
1,534 posts, read 3,733,258 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
Just my opinion, but I seriously doubt if they care if students utilize Metro for their transportation needs....they probably just don't want to be a party to it in any way.
It seems that FCPS and the County do care if the students utilize Fairfax Connector buses. The linked handout is from the Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board Retreat on February 25, 2012:

2012 Examples of County School Cooperation

Bottom of page 18:

FCDOT and FCPS are also working together to resolve a variety of traffic operations challenges around schools, particularly related to circulation issues in drop off areas. FCDOT and FCPS have coordinated in developing emergency evacuation plans for the general population, special needs populations and pets. Other coordination efforts include studying whether FCPS students could ride Fairfax Connector buses to travel to and from school; adjusting school start times to reduce traffic congestion; coordinating the installation of signage, traffic signals, flashing beacons, and traffic control devices (traffic calming); as well as parking management.
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