For kids, winter time means hot chocolate, snowmen and, of course, magical snow days. However, for school administrators, frigid days and inclement weather pose many problems. Whether you are a superintendent, school administrator or transportation director, you need to be prepared for hail and snow. This means making sure parking lots, bus lanes, and walkways are clear and salted.

It also means you need to make sure your bus fleet is ready to handle the next few months of slush and black ice. While school buses are statistically safer than other vehicles on the road, they must be kept in proper working condition and able to overcome anything Mother Nature throws their way.

Bus routing is not just “connecting the dots” between home and school. The routing process must take many different factors into account, including maximum bus capacity, maximum riding time for students, and start/end bell times for schools.

As a parent, efficient bus routing is important because it ensures your child is safely transported between home and school. That's right — the school bus your son or daughter takes to school every morning is the safest vehicle for him or her to ride in. With high seatbacks, bright flashing lights, giant mirrors, and easily discernible yellow coloring, school buses ensure your child is protected during their commute.

Bus routing is a complicated process and one of the most important elements for the success of a school district's transportation department. Taking time to understand the complicated process behind school bus routing is critical for school districts. After all, bus fleets are what bring students to and from school.

The government recognizes that school buses carry precious cargo. That’s why certain school bus safety laws were implemented to protect your children. In some states, school buses are even equipped with auto-sensing cameras that photograph motorists who violate school bus traffic laws.

New Jersey traffic rules for bus stops

School bus operations are regulated at the state level, which is why the laws and traffic rules for bus stops vary across the country.

What may be legal in one state may be illegal in another, and vice versa. For example, in Alaska, vehicles must stop for a school bus that is loading or unloading passengers. However, vehicles are not required to stop if they are on the opposite side of a divided highway.

Being a millennial mom or dad is a tough job, especially when your children would rather stare at a glowing screen than study, play outside, or socialize with friends. Kids these days, right? However, modern technology also provides many benefits to busy parents.

For example, cell phones enable parents to stay in touch with their children from anywhere at any time. So, doesn’t it make sense that as a parent, I should also be able to track my bus online or from my phone? After all, that yellow vehicle is responsible for safely transporting your child every school day.

Today’s cars have seat belts, numerous airbags, rear-view cameras, anti-collision brake systems and shatter-proof glass. Yet many school buses do not have seat belts. As a parent, this may come as surprise to you, and you may worry about your child’s safety. So, why don't school buses have seat belts?

This issue has been carefully considered by transportation and safety experts for many years and the lack of safety harnesses on school buses is intentional. Are the experts correct? 

Let’s examine both sides of this issue.

Imagine you’re at the car dealership about to purchase a new car, SUV or minivan. Does color matter? What color would choose and what colors would you avoid? If you are like most people, you will probably avoid loud, ostentatious colors, like say, school bus yellow.

However, school buses are only ever yellow. You never see black, brown, silver or tan school buses because these vehicles carry precious cargo and must be immediately apparent to everyone on the road.

Safety and convenience are two words every parent wants to read. The SafeStop mobile app offers parents and caregivers both.

Combining technology with the security that parents and school administrators need, SafeStop is a secure school bus tracking app that puts you in real-time communication with the bus your child rides.  With service available anywhere in the country, SafeStop offers a robust array of expanded features including:

Each morning you send your child off to school to learn about the world and to grow as a person. As you give them a hug and watch them hop on the school bus, do you worry about bullying? Is your son or daughter a bullying victim? Is he or she a bully?

Bus drivers are not disciplinarians. Their job is to focus on the road, traffic lights, laws, and other motorists. Unlike school playgrounds and classrooms, there is generally no one to monitor student behavior or prevent bullying on school buses. Even when there is an additional school bus monitor on-board, he or she is often unable to see what is going on in the back of the bus. In addition, children often fear being ridiculed as “tattle-tales”and thus may not report incidents of school bus bullying to bus monitors.