School Bus Descriptive Essay

Abstract

The main focus of this research is on the study of the development of school children’s transportation. It includes the historical background, the original need for school buses, the development of technology, and the transformation of school buses due to the urbanization process. To conduct deeper research there were used various internet sources. Among those sources, there is the source of the bus manufacturer Crown Coach, schoolbusdriver.org, which gives a picture of school bus history and presents old photos of school buses, Wonderopolis, The New York Times, and Pediatrics.

The research presents the transformation of the school bus industry with its technological enhancement, and the establishment of safety standards which include a special yellow color for school buses. Not only manufacturers but also ordinary people were involved in this process. For example, in the case with the establishment of the color standard, the active part was taken by Dr. Frank W. Cyr who organized the conference with educators, paint experts, and bus manufacturers. Dr. Cyr managed to impact the school bus industry. Afterward, American society followed his example and equipped the bus for the transportation of children with special needs.

10 Models of School Buses that were Key for the USA

Keywords: school bus, school children, transportation, yellow, standards.

A school bus was constructed by an English coachbuilder George Shillibeer. That historic event took place in 1827. George Shillibeer was known as a designer and constructor of public transport. The school bus was ordered by a Quaker school in Stoke Newington, London. It was not powered by an engine as modern school buses; in fact, it was a simple horse-drawn vehicle. The first school bus was made to transport 25 children. In the United States, the school bus was introduced, perhaps, in 1886 by the company Wayne Works. It was a predecessor of Wayne Corporation, the largest manufacturer of buses in America. The company made school carriages which were drawn by the horses and called by people ‘school hacks’. In the past, the word ‘hack’ was used to refer to the special type of carriages powered by horses. At the beginning of the 20th century, the carriages were strengthened with guard rails. Thus, there was implemented their first measure to protect the passengers in case of an accident (Schoolbusdriver.org, n.d.a).

This research aims to focus on the development of transport services for school children and learn how it has come to be the way it is known today.

The Need for School Buses

In the past, school buses served the needs largely of school children who lived in rural areas. It often took a very long time for children or young students to get to their school. After classes, they had to return home and do their home assignments. It was virtually impossible to have a proper study spending so much time on travel. When school buses were offered for transportation, they achieved great popularity. In some old photos preserved from the 1920s and 1930s, one can observe crowded school buses or long queues of children getting on the bus. The below photo represents one of them made in 1938. Children were queuing to board the International D-30 school bus which was already crowded.

Figure 1. Old school bus (Schoolbusdriver.org, n.d.b).

On the side of the bus, there is writing informing a modern observer that it served Van Buren township located in Grant County, the state of Indiana. Perhaps, these children could only dream about a big spacious bus such as Blue Bird All American, which could accommodate 84 passengers (Schoolbusdriver.org, n.d.b).

The Development of Transportation for School Children

Beginning in the 1930s, school bus companies such as Gillig Bros and Wayne Works decided to manufacture transit-style buses to transport school children. Such type had a flat-end design. Today it is known as a type D model of school buses. The first transit-style bus with a high capacity and heavy duty was launched by Crown Coach Company in 1932. At that time, this type of school bus was known as a ‘Supercoach.’ The terrain of California required reliable transport, and this one met all the needed standards.

The development of transportation for school children accelerated dramatically in the 1950s.  Schoolbusdriver.org commented on this process in the following way,

Another factor in the rapid rise in transit-style school bus sales in the 1950s, especially on the West Coast, was the “Baby Boom” generation. School districts were faced with a rapid rise in student counts and were forced to consolidate, buy larger school buses, or both. As a result, the use of the transit-style school bus skyrocketed during the mid-1950s. (Schoolbusdriver.org, n.d.a)

Richard Willmore had business on school bus sales at that time. As he was employed by the company Crown Coach, he did not waste time getting transport for prospective customers. Among those customers, the majority were the municipalities from Southern California. These customers were interested not only in larger and heavy-duty school buses but also searched for diesel-powered vehicles. Thereupon, in 1954, Crown Coach began to produce a Cummins diesel. Thus, if the demand for school buses grew, the business world responded to the needs of the customers and managed to meet them (Coachbuilt.com, 2004).

Why a Yellow Color Was Chosen for the School Buses

As the American population began to move from the rural to the urban areas, the need for school buses in the cities became especially urgent. The companies that specialized in bus manufacturing also began to adapt their products to the new challenges of the cities. Not only the size of the school buses became larger but also their color changed. Today buses that transport American children to school are all yellow. As Wonderopolis (n.d.) states, “The school bus’ signature yellow color is not just for looks. It is also a matter of safety.” In addition to safety devices and lights, all vehicles that transport school children are required to be yellow. This policy is incorporated into the Federal Law of the United States of America. Moreover, the yellow color of buses is not pure yellow; however, it is not pure orange either. It is called the standard color for painting school buses. This very special color can be received when there are mixed “the two, similar to the color of the flesh of a mango” (Wonderopolis, n.d.). Although this color is not available in the box of crayons, it is real.

The story of this standard yellow color is special. It began in 1939 when Dr. Frank W. Cyr gathered at a conference to establish certain standards for American school buses. Dr. Frank W. Cyr was teaching at Teachers College Columbia University when he made research on the colors appropriate for school buses. For this reason, he was called by the Americans the “father of the yellow school bus” (Columbia.edu, n.d.). Dr. Frank W. Cyr made travel throughout the United States surveying transportation of school children in the 1930s. At that time, a school bus cost about 2000 U.S. dollars, but there was no certain standard for a bus. School buses were very different as they were produced by different manufacturers and belonged to different jurisdictions. In addition, not all states had safety standards and some of them transferred that responsibility to local school districts. James Barron (2013) in his article in The New York Times referred to Dr. Frank W. Cyr who made a note on this account, “In many cases, standards have been set up by more or less hit-and-miss methods.”

After the account had been made, Dr. Cyr decided to gather educators, manufacturers of school buses, and those who were regarded as experts in bus painting to set safety standards for school buses. Therefore, in the spring of 1939, the conference was arranged and the attendees agreed to approve standards on the national level. The whole document contained 42 pages and covered many issues on school bus safety. As James Barron (2013) noted, “The document was covering everything from axles, batteries, and emergency brakes to the inside height of the passenger compartment to, yes, the color that the world saw outside. The standards were published in a booklet with a yellow cover: the yellow was the color the group had chosen.”

Someone may ask why Dr. Frank W. Cyr chose that special yellow color. It is interesting whether ‘red’ or ‘green’ grabbed more attention. Finally, these colors used for traffic lights seem to play a more important role in the regulation of city transport. However, that special ‘yellow’ gets people’s attention quicker than others, including ‘red’ and ‘green’. The secret is that the color, also known as ‘National School Bus Chrome,’ can be grabbed quicker by the peripheral field of the person’s eyes. Thus, scientists assert that people can see objects of that special color 1.24 times faster than objects in ‘red.’ In addition, yellow can be better noticed at night when it is dark (Wonderopolis, n.d.).

School Bus Transportation for the Children with Special Medical Conditions

Among school children, there are those who have special needs in health care. Some of them are disabled, and transportation with other children is not very easy for them. For that reason, many schools take responsibility to provide disabled children with special transportation. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children with special needs have to use safe transportation means approved by federal law. As the Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention (2001) asserts, “This statement provides current guidelines for the protection of child passengers with specific health care needs, including those with a tracheostomy, those requiring the use of car seats, or those transported in wheelchairs.” Thus, the school system in the United States now takes into account the needs of school children who suffer from serious medical conditions and equip school buses with special restraints to provide children in wheelchairs with safe transportation. The wheelchairs are usually secured with a special fastening device attached to the floor of the bus.

Conclusion

The school bus introduced at the beginning of the 19th century underwent a serious transformation. Originally designed as a carriage to transport school children who lived in rural areas, it became much bigger and was equipped with a powerful engine. Due to the process of urbanization, school buses became more popular in the cities of America. There arose a need for safety rules which included the approval of the specific yellow color. Afterward, school buses were also accommodated to satisfy the demands of children with special needs.

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