Buses World News
In brief: Worldwide montly news & informations about Buses, Busmakers, Passengers' and the Transport Industry
NEW APPS USA - * 'Here Comes the Bus' - ** New "Transit App"
* Colorado - New app helps parents track PSD buses
-- Parents of dawdling school children can now turn to their computer for confirmation that it's time for their kids to put their pants on or miss the morning bus... Poudre School District, in an attempt to answer the age-old question of whether buses are running on time, began using the free "Here Comes the Bus" app earlier this month. Parents of district students — given they know their child's student ID number — can learn if a bus is running late, for weather or other reasons, and get a good idea of what time it will arrive at their bus stop... PSD provides bus service for students who live certain distances away from their neighborhood school. That distance is 1 mile for elementary students, 1 1/2 miles for middle school students and 2 miles for high school students...
(Photo: Austin Humphreys/The Coloradoan: Students board a school bus to head home after a day at Tavelli Elementary School on Tuesday in Fort Collins. A new computer app allows parents of Poudre School District students to track their children's buses) -- Poudre. COL, USA - The Coloradoan, by Rob White - January 27, 2016
** Pennsylvania - New Transit App allows real time tracking of Port Authority buses
-- Thousands of people use public transportation to get where they are going in Pittsburgh... Now, a local group wants to help riders get to their destinations faster... Pittsburghers for Public Transit has been out on the town letting people know about the best way to utilize technology... Real time data is now available for Port Authority buses on an app called Transit... The Transit app is free for iPhone and Android users, as are the true time numbers from the Port Authority website...
(Photo: Where's my bus? Smart phone program will give real-time routes of transit buses) -- Pittsburgh, PENN, USA - KDKA, by Rick Dayton – January 26, 2016Labels: mobile application, passengers transport industry, school buses transportation industry
SCHOOL BUSES TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * USA
* Florida - How Hillsborough solves problem of crowded school buses
Tampa Bay,FL,USA -WFLDA, by Adrienne Pedersen -Aug 28, 2014: -- 8 On Your Side is following up to make sure your kids are getting to school safe and on time. Thursday morning a previously overcrowded and late Ruskin school bus appeared to be running smoothly... Thompson Elementary School parent Latrese Thomas contacted us when several students weren't allowed on the bus because there wasn't enough room... On Wednesday, the Hillsborough County School District tried something new... "Right now we have double runs which means that we send out two buses to do what would have been one run and my understanding is it's working very well," Steve Hegarty, spokesperson for Hillsborough County Schools said...Labels: school buses transportation industry
SHOOL BUSES INDUSTRY * USA
* New York - School bus drivers may receive more pay
(Photo: School buses discharge their passengers outside of an elementary school in the New York neighborhood of Chelsea)
NY,USA -The NY Times, by Tatiana Schlossberg -Aug. 18, 2014: -- Just before school buses begin rolling with students adorned with new backpacks and fresh sets of pencils, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council are hoping to reverse some of the policies that led drivers to strike unsuccessfully 18 months ago... With the mayor’s support, the Council is planning to vote this week to give $42 million to school bus companies to raise the salaries of experienced drivers who were forced to take pay cuts after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg awarded a series of new bus contracts in the last years of his administration... Those new contracts shaved hundreds of millions of dollars from a $1.1 billion school transportation budget. In part, the savings came from allowing school bus companies to bid without guaranteeing jobs to experienced drivers, as previous contracts had done... Labels: school buses transportation industry
SCHOOL BUSES * India
* Maharashtra / India - School buses may not ply on high tide, heavy rain days to avoid pothole hazards
(Photo: A model school bus. The Indian government adopted this model as the official state policy)
Mumbai,Maharashtra,India -TNN, by Sujit Mahamulkar & Yogita Rao -Jul 27, 2014: -- Parents of city students may have to make alternate arrangements to ferry their children to schools on heavy rain days coupled with high tide. For, school bus owners could refuse to ply kids on potholed roads on such days... They say water-logging on these roads is not just risky for ferrying kids, but also adds to owner's misery due to regular vehicular breakdowns. Bus owners have now decided to take no chances with students as the BMC has done little to patch up cratered roads... School Bus Owners' Association (SBOA) president Anil Garg said, "Drivers are unable to see huge potholes due to water-logging in some areas. There have been instances of buses getting stuck in these potholes with children on board. Usually the BMC does something to patch these craters, but this year, these have been left as they are" ... He added that three buses were stuck in drains at Powai, Kurla and Dharavi in the rains last year...Labels: school buses transportation industry
SCHOOL BUSES TRANSPORT INDUSTRY * USA
* Pennsylvania - Haverford school buses going green
Haverford,Delaware County,PENN,USA -Delaware County News, by Lois Pugilonesi -23 July 2014: ... The school district’s fleet of 70 buses traveled over 716,000 miles and transported a total 4,664 students this past year, according to the annual state of the fleet report Director of Transportation George Ramplin, presented at a recent school board meeting... Buses burned nearly 700,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel, which reduced particulate matter emissions by about 521 pounds, with reductions in carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and sulfur oxide as well... The majority of school buses in the nation run on diesel, with biodiesel the most widely used alternative fuel. However Ramplin, asked the school board to consider “opening the conversation” to alternatives like electric, Compressed Natural Gas (CN G) and propane powered buses... Due to cost factors and infrastructure needs, Ramplin advised officials to consider incorporating propane buses into the fleet... Ramplin said the district has funds to purchase two propane buses in 2015-16, thanks to a grant shared with Radnor School district, which plans to buy three propane buses...
* Georgia - Cobb School Buses reduce pollution
(Patch File Photo: Cobb County's fleet of school buses is becoming more environmentally friendly through modernizing and retrofitting vehicles)
Cobb,GA,USA -AC Worth Patch, by Justin Ove -July 23, 2014: --The Cobb County School District's Transportation Department has earned an award for reducing the amount of pollution its school buses generate... The district won the Georgia Diesel Emissions Reduction (GaDER) Gold Award, presented by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), during the Georgia Association for Pupil Transportation’s (GAPT) trade show and conference on Jekyll Island in June... Diesel vehicle using organizations that reduce their emissions by 26 to 74 percent are eligible for the Gold Award, said the school district in a press release... For school systems, reducing their diesel emissions is done by replacing old school buses, equipping school buses with modern diesel particulate filters, or adding vehicles to the fleet which run on alternate fuels...Labels: school buses transportation industry
SCHOOL BUSES INDUSTRY * USA: Legislations
* Louisiana - School bus law could add costs, time
(Photo: Monroe City school buses)
Monroe,LOU,USA -Daily World News -Jul. 7, 2014: -- Officials are warning that a new state law could cause a big increase in school bus costs and travel times across Louisiana... . The law, which takes effect in August, prohibits bus drivers from picking up or dropping off students in locations where they would have to cross traffic lanes... Some districts estimate it will cause their buses to drive nearly twice the distance as before the law... Rep. Rob Shadoin, a Ruston Republican, says the law was meant to address problems in urban areas such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge, but is having unintended effects on school districts across the state... Union Parish transportation supervisor Lyn Kenley says the law could hurt that parish’s efforts to reduce bus travel times and could force school buses to drive nearly 1.5 million miles, twice the distance they traveled in the last school year...
* Pennsylvania - New Law extends allowable length of school buses
Harrisburg,PENN,USA -STN On Line, by Michelle Fisher -8 July 2014: -- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed a law Senate, which amends Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to permit school buses to be 45 feet in length. Sen. Elder Vogel said he introduced the legislation to give school districts and school bus contractors the option to choose the most appropriate school buses based on their needs... Current state law "arbitrarily" limits school buses to 40 feet in length, Vogel noted, even though other types of non-school buses are legal in lengths up to 45 feet. Further, Pennsylvania is only one of five states that restrict the length of a school bus to 40 feet...Labels: school buses transportation industry
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