How many kids are on your child's school bus? (apartment, transporting) - Northern Virginia - Virginia (VA) - City-Data Forum

barryhussein · 09-12-2008, 03:14 AM

Would you believe there are school buses out there with more than 70 students on them? This is a very dangerous situation that certain school districts think they can get away with. It seems to happen more with the poorer neighborhoods, as those parents are less likely to complain. Any teacher would tell you that managing 70 students would be quite difficult, but they expect a bus driver to do this, while driving a 44 foot long bus in some of the worst traffic in the World. There are first graders getting squashed by sixth graders, who are more than twice their size. Is your child's school neglectful on the bus?

tgbwc · 09-12-2008, 04:39 AM

What is the capacity of a typical bus?

dkf747 · 09-12-2008, 05:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgbwc

What is the capacity of a typical bus?

66 to 70 kids
44 to 50 adults.

nwc07 · 09-12-2008, 07:56 AM

My kids tell me many times they are 3 to a seat. I try to drive them whenever possible!

tamitrail · 09-12-2008, 05:04 PM

School buses are bad news. I don't know why they don't have better regulations. I would never put my kids on a school bus.

car54 · 09-12-2008, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tamitrail

School buses are bad news. I don't know why they don't have better regulations. I would never put my kids on a school bus.

Nonsense. School buses are the most regulated vehicles on the road. They are also the safest. According to the National Safety Council statistics, school buses are 40 times safer than the family car.

Here is a site with everthing you ever wanted to know about school buses:
School Bus Transportation News at STN Media

My retirement gig is driving a bus for FCPS. We transport 110,000 students a day on 1500 buses. Can you imagine how much worse traffic would be if all those kids were in cars?

Overloads do occur however, especially during the first couple weeks of school. Route technicians simply don't know exact passenger loads until school starts.

FCPS is very sensitive to parental concerns, and if you feel that your kid's bus is overcrowded, call Transportation and they will fix it. Just today, they added two stops to my high school run to relieve an overloaded bus. With 236 schools, bus routing is incredibly complicated and absolutely requires some tweaking in the early weeks of the school year.

PS: If you do drive your kid to school, please be careful! In my 5 years driving a bus I've been backed into or rammed 8 times by parents. If a FCPS school bus is touched by another vehicle, the police MUST be called to investigate.....and you will be seriously late to wherever you're going next.

Fern435 · 09-13-2008, 03:07 AM

I am in agreement with car54! I know--it surprised me too.

My teenager rides a FCPS bus, and the bus drivers are extremely conscientious about transporting the students safely. I am very grateful for their dedication. This is a challenging area to drive school buses.

barryhussein · 09-13-2008, 05:35 AM

Car54, I even heard they are 48 times safer. They will say that the capacity is 78 on a bus with 13 rows of two seats--that is three kids in every seat! There are many sixth graders weighing over 150 pounds. Three kids to a seat means the seat backs will not protect the students on the edge of the seats. Car54, you also, state that the supervisor will make adjustments after parents call--which supports my other point more. The apartment and townhome kids are more likely to get neglected, because there parent(s) are less likely to complain. The stats show that the drivers ARE doing a great job, but are the people in the front offices? Do you think I should send my videotape to Liz Crenshaw at Newscenter4?

dkf747 · 09-13-2008, 08:15 AM

The max. seating capacity for buses has always been for 3 kids to a seat or 2 adults. Ain't nothing new there.

car54 · 09-13-2008, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barryhussein

Car54, I even heard they are 48 times safer. They will say that the capacity is 78 on a bus with 13 rows of two seats--that is three kids in every seat! There are many sixth graders weighing over 150 pounds. Three kids to a seat means the seat backs will not protect the students on the edge of the seats. Car54, you also, state that the supervisor will make adjustments after parents call--which supports my other point more. The apartment and townhome kids are more likely to get neglected, because there parent(s) are less likely to complain. The stats show that the drivers ARE doing a great job, but are the people in the front offices? Do you think I should send my videotape to Liz Crenshaw at Newscenter4?

Three kids to a seat is how the bus manufacturers have always rated bus capacity, but everybody involved knows that is unrealistic. Our "78 passenger" buses really only hold 52 (two to a seat)....unless it's a kindergarten field trip or something.

About the apartment/TH parents being neglected, I don't think so because even if the parents don't complain...the drivers WILL. It's no picnic driving an overloaded bus and a driver can refuse without repercussions. They always tell us that the ultimate decision on safety lies with the driver.