The annual cost of repair to a Wood County (West Virginia) typical bus (called "Number 87") mounts in ever-steeper steps. The usage-and-repair study underscores the disparity between legislative educational planning nearly a decade ago and the facts of school life today. (Author/MLF)

A computerized routing and scheduling system for the San Francisco Public Schools includes the batch processing of bus route assignments and schedules for all schools and the online terminal processing of daily changes. (Author/MLF)

Describes how school districts, faced with shrinking resources, have cut costs for student transportation. To combat rising transportation costs, districts have charged fees for student transportation, entered into private contracts, cut transportation services, used alternative fuels, and streamlined bus routes and schedules. (LMI)

Discusses aspects of rural transportation for exceptional students: (1) federal requirements; (2) specialized equipment needs; (3) safety concerns; and (4) training needs of drivers and attendants concerning student characteristics, behavior management, district disciplinary policy, communication with parents, loading and unloading procedures,…

It is an advantage to a school system to contract for its school bus service. Financially, private companies can obtain capital easier than can public agencies. A school system that uses good management and monitors the contractor with clear specifications can be assured of safety and efficiency. (MLF)

The application of operations research and computers is providing school bus routing and scheduling to five California counties. Illustrates the system requirements, steps for computerized calculations, a sample bus assignment report, and three data files. (MLF)

Describes North Dakota's family transportation program, which subsidizes parent-provided transportation as an alternative to school bus transportation. Reports on surveys of administrator and parent attitudes. Discusses potential cost savings and potential problems with insurance, tardiness, and increased student parking. (SV)

Student transportation complexities make evaluating a program's cost and quality very difficult. The first step in measuring performance is defining an operation's functional components: level of service delivery, units of service, and cost of services. Other considerations include routing, logistics, and fleet maintenance and support operations.…

Recently, some school districts have established ties between their own and city/county transportation systems. This article examines outcomes of consolidated services in a sample of seven Michigan communities. Successful consolidation requires a policy champion, safety assurances, confidence and positive experiences, and resource capacity. (MLH)

The National Highway Traffic Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) is in the midst of the first school-bus crash tests in more than 10 years. Its report is expected in June 2000, and those on both sides of the seat-belt debate are waiting to see what NHTSA will recommend on passenger restraints in large school buses. A sidebar lists sources…

Privatization of school support services is a time-tested means for lowering educational costs. The three major services that school districts in Michigan contract out for are food, custodial and transportation. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy's survey of privatization is the longest running and most comprehensive source of school support…

This report describes 50 initial statistical indicators developed by the Council of the Great City Schools and its member districts to measure big-city school performance on a range of operational and business functions, and presents data city-by-city on those indicators. The analysis marks the first time that such indicators have been developed…

This document provides a summary of selected school bus crash statistics for 1989. Information was obtained from the following data sources: the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS), the General Estimates System (GES), and the School Bus Fleet Annual Fact Book. The data are organized into four sections: (1) a summary of national and selected…

As schools develop programs to serve students with increasingly complex conditions and as greater numbers of students with severe disabilities are mainstreamed into their neighborhood schools, requirements for safely transporting these students have become more complicated. This document provides special education administrators, transportation…

This report details the data requirements and procedures used to develop new school bus routes for Six Mile Elementary School in South Carolina. The project examined the current routes of the school and applied computer based techniques to develop new routes given the existing bus stops. Bus routes were developed so that distance and travel time…