SAVING MONEY * USA - Smart bus ideas need a chance

* Albemarle Co. Transportation Changes Save Thousands

Albemarle County,VA,USA -wcav.tv, by Liz Palka -Aug 15, 2008: -- State and local governments alike are scrambling to save money amidst the recent rise in energy and fuel costs. Along those lines, the Albemarle County School District plans on saving thousands by making a few changes to its transportation plan... By making a few relatively simple changes to the school transportation plan, the Albemarle County School District could save almost $100,000... New bus routes are not the only change the school officials are implementing this year. Other changes include using hybrid vehicles to transport smaller groups of students, eliminating excessive bus routes, and combining others so that buses are filled to capacity...


* The Racine Unified School District will begin streamlining its transportation system

Racine,WI,USA -The Journal Times -August 15, 2008: -- Starting this fall, there are good ideas here, and the district deserves encouragement not only because the result should be a more efficient system but because it also should eventually be lower cost... An outside study of Unified’s transportation system done a couple of years ago found that the district transportation cost per student was $913 compared to a state average of $413. That’s quite a difference especially when one considers that some districts cover larger areas with a lower population density... As part of its plan, the district is starting a transition this fall to straight-line busing. School buses will no longer dip into each cul-de-sac to pick up each child in front of each home. Buses will instead run like city buses. There will be a designated stop at which children will be expected to gather. Already one can see that this will save many miles and much time... Unified also plans to make more use of city buses, another completely logical step... Here’s the payoff. The district is planning to have 1,300 children ride city buses this year. The actual number may be fewer — it was last year — but even if it falls to half that’s still a significant number of school buses which don’t have to be on the road. As a bonus, the sliding charge from the city bus system turns into a flat fee if student numbers cross a threshold between 800 and 900...