Tyler Bryan attended his first National Congress on School Transportation in May 2015. The experience prepared him to take on an industry first 10 years later.

Bryan, Delaware’s de facto state director as the education associate for school transportation at the department of education, chaired the new alternative transportation writing committee that was included at the 17th NCST in Des Moines, Iowa. It was the first time state delegates took up a non-school bus issue since the first congress held in 1939. It was blasphemous to previously even think of proposing recommendations for other vehicles that transport students to and from school, not to mention other related events.

Seeing how NCST worked in 2015, at the behest of then-state director Ron Love, allowed Bryan to prepare not only in his role leading this historic proposal process but his responsibilities in providing guidance to school districts in his own state.

“The committees and delegation helped me gain an excellent working knowledge that better prepared me for taking on this role in Delaware. I am very appreciative of Ron’s guidance and inclusiveness in my previous role, and it was due to that involvement that eventually led me to this position,” Bryan said. “Being a 2015 delegate allowed me to see the process Ron followed to prepare, the execution during congress, and then the follow-up, including our state’s specification update process.

Getting to be involved and see that made it much easier to understand expectations and made me comfortable enough to take on a writing chair position.”

Despite admittedly being awestruck by NCST in 2015, the deliberations were made easier, he added, by knowing that all delegates as well as interested parties no matter the varying opinions were there for the same reason: Student safety.

“In my opinion, the 2025 on-site congress proceedings went very smoothly, and I was impressed by how well they stayed on schedule to accomplish 10 years of work within the provided timeframe,” he noted. Bryan provides more insights into the proposal process for alternative transportation, specifically, and the need for the industry to come together and create recommendations that benefit school districts of all states, in this month’s Q&A.

STN: Why is the topic of alternative transportation so important? In Delaware? Nationwide?

Bryan: Alternative transportation is important. As we know it is here and ever expanding. As this expansion continues, states and local districts are at the point where they must evaluate their needs and determine what policies, procedures and processes are required to ensure that they are doing their due diligence, to ensure that students are receiving safe transportation in the vehicle selected for school transportation.

In Delaware, it is continuing to grow for the transportation of our homeless and foster youth. Our regulations currently require the local education authority to establish its own policies and procedures for this type of transportation. After much conversation with our local transportation supervisors, they have requested that the state develop regulations around this type of transportation to create a standard framework for consistency across the state. The goal was to use NCST to propel us forward with creating the regulation.

STN: How and why did you get involved as the writing committee chair?

Bryan: I had been tasked with chairing the NASDPTS position paper for alternative transportation, so when they were looking for members of this committee, I had expressed interest since I had already been doing some work within this subject. When I found out they were in need of a chair for this section, I agreed to step up and take the lead, as I knew we would also be looking to do similar work in Delaware.

STN: How did the committee operate? What work went into formalizing/creating the proposals for delegate voting? What was the process for creating a writing committee that never existed before?

Bryan: With the NCST process, there was a first period, during which state delegations and interested parties could submit language, proposals or requests for changes. In the first round of proposals, our committee received only one proposal, which aimed to clarify the NHSTA guidance on the use of 15-passenger vans. This meant the committee needed to start drafting a proposal from scratch. The committee decided to examine multiple states that had already adopted regulations for alternative transportation, which we then used to identify similarities between them, providing us with a starting point.

The committee then determined what areas we wanted to focus on within this proposal, which were driver credentials, driver training, vehicle design and equipment, special education policy considerations, and other policy considerations. We then split into subgroups, splitting up within each of these subjects. The small groups then formed their recommendations, which included non-voting advisory members from various alternative transportation providers who also contributed input on these subject areas.

Once the subgroups completed their work, we brought it back to the main group and reviewed each area, voting on what we wanted to include in our proposal. Our proposal then went out for comment, and this time we received 15 comments for recommended language changes or additions. Our committee then reconvened to vote to either accept or reject those recommendations and then provided the committee’s decision back to those who submitted change requests. That was the process we followed for developing the final proposal that came to the Congress floor. It is definitely a more extensive process to start a new section from scratch versus just changing existing language. I was very fortunate to have great committee members who offered valuable input and time to allow us to put forth a solid proposal to congress.

STN: What were the proposals and what did the states pass? Was there anything surprising to you?

Bryan: The committee knew going into this that this section was new historical and many had varying opinions on it. We were expecting a lot of discussion around it. The final wording will be forthcoming incorporating the changes that occurred on the floor. (Editor’s note: The national specifications and procedures were under review by the editing and technical committees at this report.)

The one surprising thing for me as the writing chair was that I had preconceived ideas about which areas would be more controversial than others, so I was surprised to see that the driver training section was the one that received the most change. We had really intended that section to be a framework for those states or localities looking to implement training requirements. Overall, all the sections remained with modifications that were proposed and accepted by the congress, and this allowed the committee to achieve our initial goal of adopting a minimum framework to ensure safe transportation for students.

STN: What stood out most to you about your entire NCST experience?

Bryan: Due to COVID-19, our normal five-year process was extended to 10 years, resulting in a significant number of veterans familiar with this process retiring. There were many new delegates and delegate chairs who were attending the NCST for the first time at the 2025 congress. Even with many new individuals and a more extended hiatus, we were still able to achieve a highly successful congress that was completed ahead of schedule. This wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of all the individuals involved in this process. Another impressive aspect of NCST was viewing the table decorations featured by various states. It was great seeing the state pride across the Congress floor.

STN: Thank you.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted for the July 2025 issue of School Transportation News.

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The post Historic Endeavor appeared first on School Transportation News.

On paper, the calculation seems simple enough: If well-trained drivers operate school buses equipped with safety devices that reduce traffic collisions, then insurance claims and premiums should likewise decrease.

In reality, insurance brokers say no single piece of technology or training technique is enough to warrant lower premiums on its own. But combined, these tools can help protect a fleet from liability in court.

“The biggest takeaway is it hopefully leads to less claims, which would ultimately drive down your cost,” said Kyle McClellan, a practice leader at NSM Insurance Brokers. “There’s not a direct correlation, like when you bundle your insurance together and you’re going to save 10 percent. But fewer claims leads to fewer dollars spent on insurance.”

While carrier insurance rates vary depending on fleet size, vehicle type, routes and loss history, rates have consistently trended upward nationwide.

Over the past year, the Consumer Price Index calculated motor vehicle insurance rising an average 6.4 percent. In one extreme case, the David School District in Oklahoma saw a 328-percent increase in insurance rates from 2020 to 2022, rising to $261,000 from $61,000 annually, per Education Week.

Rising rates often result in shopping around for better policies. When it comes to negotiating rates, McClellan said two pieces of school bus technology are particularly
attractive to providers: Cameras and telematics.

“Those allows us on the broker side to meet with school bus contractors, identify what they’re doing, how they’re doing certain things, and then go to the insurance market and tell them, here’s the reasons why you’d training fall by the wayside.

“Now they got the big screen in front of them and every time someone burps it records it, and they have to look at it instead of paying attention to what they’re doing on the road,” quipped school bus training expert Richard Fischer, who has owned Trans-Consult since 1977, after serving as a transportation and safety director in California.

Having been called as an expert witness too many times to count, Fischer said three questions often come up in court that can be addressed with training, studying driver manuals and simple record keeping: Did the driver have a duty? Did the driver previously breach this duty? What was done to correct the breach of duty?

State CDL driver manuals and the National School Transportation Specifications and Procedures manual updated by the National Congress on School Transportation don’t just lay out best practices, Fischer said. It is a driver’s job to know the manuals forward and backward.

“A driver-carrier has one duty to perform, and that’s to do everything possible to make sure that the drivers are safe to drive the bus and the kids are protected,” Fischer said.

In addition to training, he advised documenting hours and topics covered, with each driver documenting their own record in their own handwriting. A trainer writing records might implicate questions of falsified records. Most importantly though, Fischer said
don’t make excuses.

“Quit arguing the point we don’t have any money to do safety meetings or we’re short drivers, so we have to excel our training program,” Fischer said. “Everyone says we transport the most precious cargo in the world—then do it.”

Besides providing benefits on the road, many insurers favor having vehicles equipped with telematics and cameras for their benefits in court, particularly as an upward trend of high judgments increases financial risk.

Along with an increase in court-ordered “nuclear verdicts” that brokers say have resulted in increased insurance costs across the board, recent years have seen a trend of higher judgments in urban areas and lower judgments in rural areas impacting localized policy prices.

Regardless of who is at fault, Lisa Paul of Paul Consulting said juries are often poised to believe the little guy over a large company, a trend she has seen play out time and time again over a 32-year career in commercial insurance.

“Courts tend to rule against the big power unit, where people perceive there’s big dollars, whether that’s a school district or a large public company,” Paul said. “But the utilization of external facing cameras has been extremely helpful in improving the exoneration rates of accidents.”

A 2023 survey by the American Transportation Research Institute found driver-facing camera footage exonerated drivers in more cases than it provided evidence of negligence. Per legal experts surveyed, the presence of cameras seemed to drive settlements in nearly 75 percent of cases reviewed. Besides being useful in court, many commend telematics for catching both positive and negative behavior, providing opportunities for coaching and praise.

“It gives an opportunity to enhance and improve driver coaching of how the driver, the school bus operator themselves can improve their driving behavior based on how the vehicle is monitoring that during the course of transit,” Paul said.

Jeffrey Cassell, president of the School Bus Safety Company and a former director of safety for Laidlaw, credits certain camera systems, like National Express’ G-force activated DriveCam, with driving quick settlements.

“What happens is, if you’re liable, you admit to liability immediately and get to negotiating the amount and there’s no discovery. And if you’re not liable, you just get the video and send it to the plaintiff attorney,” Cassell said. “Attorneys don’t chase rainbows.”

While investing in technology and maintaining training helps avoid crashes, thus reducing insurance claims, the staunch safety advocate said keeping students safe should be motivation enough to follow best practices.

“Otherwise, it’s doing it for the wrong reason,” Cassell said. More than school bus technology and training, Cassell said loss records are ultimately the most important factor in obtaining a favorable insurance rate.

“Now if you then say to them, hang on a minute, we’ve just fitted extended stop arms, which should reduce the accidents, can we have a reduction in the premium? They’ll
say, of course you can, as soon as it shows up in your losses,” Cassell said. “If your losses go down, your premium will go down.”

Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the July 2025 issue of School Transportation News.

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The post Does Safety Save Money? appeared first on School Transportation News.

Technology to prohibit speeding is nothing new to school buses. While a federal proposal to require speed limiting devices on heavy-duty vehicles was recently scuttled, states and local governments continue to push for their use.

Where does the school bus industry stand with theses devices? Do they really increase safety?

Several manufacturers think so. Speed limiters, also known as intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology, gained traction about three years ago in New York City. The devices were first placed on a variety of 50 government fleet vehicles but not school buses. However, the project has since been expanded three times, and currently speed limiters are now installed on 700 vehicles operating across the five boroughs, 50 of which are school buses powered by both diesel and electric.

Magtec Products provides advanced the ISA, which company names SafeSpeed, on vehicles in New York City. Gary Catapano, Magtec’s chief strategy and safety advisor, has extensive firsthand school bus safety experience. He oversaw transportation companies operating in the New York area as the senior vice president of safety for First Student as well as First Transit and Greyhound from October 2004 through October 2017.

“I’m really passionate about school bus safety and what school busses do every single day in North America. It’s a pretty incredible mission, moving all those children safely and securely, and by and large, they do a great job making that happen,” he said. “But speeding is one of those problems that affects not only the school bus industry, but every type of transport out there. … [I]t’s the leading cause of fatal injuries and crashes. Typically, from year to year, anywhere from 29 to 33 percent of all fatal crashes have speeding as a causal factor.”

He said when he left First Student, he started to work with Magtec because he had piloted the technology and saw how it could make fleets safer.

“Speed is at the center of our roadway safety problems in North America, and when you slow people down, you end up being able to avoid collisions,” Catapano said, adding that slowing down allows for more follow distance between vehicles and more time to conduct defensive driving maneuvers. School bus drivers have more time to react to other hazards on the roadway as well as actions of other motorists.

“So, not only does that eliminate speed related crashes but allows you to drive more defensively and help avoid non speeding related crashes,” Catapano added.

He noted that having ISA on school buses, especially those traveling in neighborhoods with children and bicyclists present, is critical to safety. Even traveling a few miles over the speed limit increases both crash risk and severity.

New York City vehicles have traveled over 5 million miles using Magtec’s SafeSpeed across a variety of vehicles and departments. Catapano noted that NYC is a challenging environment to operate vehicles due to its urban landscape, high skyscrapers and roadways with various speed limits.

The technology became a part of the city’s Transition to Safety plan. The report “NYC School Bus Fleet: Improving Road Safety Through Technologies and Training” published in January 2024 stated that the ISA system provides a warning (visual, haptic or a combination) to a driver that the target speed is exceeded.

After installing the technology on school buses, the report states “preliminary results on the first nine-bus pilot indicate that installing ISA on school buses decreased excessive speeding (11-plus mph above the speed limit) from 4.21 percent to 0.03 percent of overall driving time, representing a 99.29 percent decrease in excessive speeding time. These initial findings suggest that ISA is a feasible intervention to decrease speeding behaviors in school bus drivers.”

Catapano explained that NYC chose to enforce a speed limit that was above the posted limit by 11 miles per hour and matched the settings of the 2,000 speed cameras that are in placed around the city. Many NYC streets have a speed limit of 25 mph, putting the maximum speed a vehicle could travel at 36 mph. He noted the SafeSpeed device keeps track of the posted speed limits wherever the vehicle is traveling, regardless of if it’s on a highway or residential street.

Meanwhile, the 2025 NYC Safe Fleet Transition Plan, prepared by the Volpe National Transportation Center for the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), said ISA resulted in a 64 percent relative decrease in the amount of time that drivers exceeded the speed limit by at least 11 mph.

“With sufficient evidence that ISA is effective at reducing severe speeding, the technology has been recategorized from “exploratory” to a Tier 2 “best practice” technology,” the report states. It adds that the city plans to install ISA in an additional 1,600 fleet vehicles, which would be the largest single deployment of active ISA in the U.S.

In addition to safety, Catapano said the speed limiters are also saving fleets anywhere from 3 to 5 percent on fuel consumption. Plus, he said speeding results in tailgating, which leads to having to use the brakes more often, resulting in higher maintenance costs for parts replacement.

He added the technology is relatively affordable and easy to install—typically taking around one hour per bus.

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Beyond speed regulation, the Magtec SafeSpeed system also offers remote vehicle shutdown capabilities, which can be used in emergency situations, such as when a bus driver is impaired or a vehicle is hijacked. Originally developed for military and high-value cargo protection, this security feature allows school districts to safely immobilize a vehicle from their dispatch office.

“Whether it’s an impairment issue, a medical emergency, or even a security threat, this technology gives districts a way to take control and protect both passengers and the public,” Catapano added, noting that no additional device is required.

Another Success Story

New York City’s adoption of ISA systems is already inspiring interest from other school districts, some with as many as 1,200 buses already equipped with the technology, Catapano noted. Yet adoption remains slow nationwide.

“Truthfully, the technology is very inexpensive and it’s readily available now,” Catapano said. “The real question is, why aren’t more districts using it?”

At least one more big city is. A new pilot program in Washington, D.C., featuring speed-limiting technology developed by LifeSafer, is making waves in the effort to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities on the road. The program also centers around ISA technology that automatically prevents vehicles from exceeding the speed limit.

LifeSafer has a three-decades-long mission of preventing road deaths, starting with ignition interlock systems. But four years ago, the company pivoted toward broader applications of safety tech.

“I started asking, how else can we save lives?” said Michael Travars, president and general manager of LifeSafer.

That question led to the development of an ISA technology, a system already proven in large commercial fleets but largely untapped in the public sector—especially in school transportation.

The turning point came when Travars connected with Rick Burke, D.C.’s traffic safety officer, during a conversation about the city’s Vision Zero goal for eliminating traffic crash fatalities. That led to a pilot installation of ISA devices in 10 school vehicles used for the city’s School Connect program, which provides equitable transportation for students transferring between schools.

The pilot program launched in January and was designed to run for three months, focusing on school buses operating throughout the city at varying times and locations. After just 30 days, feedback from school bus drivers was overwhelmingly positive.

“The drivers loved it,” Travars relayed. “One of them told me, ‘I know my vehicle will go the speed limit, so I can pay attention to the kids.’ That’s the whole point.”

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He said the technology is purposefully non-distracting and once installed—typically a 30-minute process—the system silently enforces preset speed thresholds. Using real-time data from mapping sources like HERE, Google and Waze, the system automatically calibrates to local speed limits. It never hits the brakes for the drivers but simply prevents further acceleration.

The goal, Travars said, is safe, seamless compliance. And if drivers need to override the limiter in an emergency, a manual override button provides temporary acceleration for a fixed time, after which the limiter resumes.

With the D.C. pilot now past its initial phase, LifeSafer is working closely with city officials to expand ISA technology across more school vehicles. At the same time, the company is actively speaking with other cities and districts interested in launching their own programs. And while cost is always a concern for school systems, LifeSafer is committed to flexibility.

“We’re being adaptive during this early adoption period,” added Travars. “We want to see proof of safety, and we’re happy to work with districts to make that happen.”

Feds Have a Different Opinion?

Meanwhile, despite positive feedback from NYC, D.C. and others, the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration withdrew a proposal to require ISA on heavy-duty vehicles.

The proposal would have required heavy vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating over 26,000 pounds to be equipped with speed-limiting devices, initially set to a speed—likely between 60 and 68 miles per hour—that was to be determined in the final rule.

It dates back to the Obama administration’s original proposal that trucks with a gross weight of more than 26,000 pounds be equipped with a speed-limiting device to keep them under 65 mph. The proposed rule was withdrawn during the first Trump administration, only to be revived and advanced in 2022 by the Biden administration.

However, FMCSA and NHTSA withdrew the rule once again earlier this year. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the device is not only an inconvenience but a hazard for drivers who are forced to go slower than the flow of traffic. Reasons for the withdrawal include policy and safety concerns as well as continued data gaps that create considerable uncertainty about the estimated costs, benefits and other impacts.

Bus & Motorcoach News reported that the American Trucking Associations, United Motorcoach Association other industry advocates embraced the proposed rule, including large trucking firms, Coach USA and many four-wheel truck drivers.

The opposition centered on the hazards of speed differentials, increased crashes, traffic backups, driver fatigue and increased pressure on a dwindling driver pool for relief drivers, as many routes were previously accomplished without exceeding the driving hours of service.

The post Not So Fast: Technology Eyes Speed Reduction in School Buses appeared first on School Transportation News.

RENO, Nev. – The Green Bus Summit at STN EXPO West was a gathering of enthusiastic minds to discuss the technology and training needed to achieve a clean energy future.

Advancing School Bus Innovation
RIDE

Frank Girardot, senior vice president of electric school bus manufacturer RIDE Mobility, noted during a panel discussion that there is a sales job involved when transportation staff must convince district administration that electric school buses (ESBs) are a good investment.

Craig Beaver, administrator for transportation at Beaverton School District in Oregon, said his ESB journey began with grant writing and utility cooperation. Operationally, he said bus capacity, battery size and the reliability of the OEMs are of utmost importance. Beaverton assigned ESBs to certain routes, not specific drivers. Beaver, the 2024 STN Transportation Director of the Year, said even diesel devotees have come around to appreciate them.

Jim Snow, CEO of Mid-Placer Public Schools in rural northern California, has propane buses and is implementing electric buses. He noted that stacking federal and state funding is key. When choosing buses, he said to prioritize the needs of the students, which for his district means those with special needs.

Meanwhile, Jessica Sevilla, director of fleet and facilities for Antelope Valley Schools Transportation Agency in California, said that having the right staff, driver and mechanic training, and vendor relationships throughout the process is crucial so everyone feels supported. She advised leveraging futureproofing and AI tools in planning processes.

Rural Elko County School District in Nevada is just starting its electric bus journey with the use of grants and is currently participating in a V2G pilot program, which provides no-cost infrastructure. “We had to look at what was available and how it would meet our needs,” Director of Transportation Seth Canning said.

Jarrett Garife, manager of transportation for the rural Monterey (California) County Office of Education, applauded state funding and underscored the need for driver buy-in. He said he needed to buy a diesel bus to use for driver recertification during the ESB implementation process.

Girardot added that to successfully run operations, rural districts must consider things like route length, bus capacity, temperature changes and staff training. Several panelists said that rural milage challenges were assuaged by using DC fast chargers.

Panelists also agreed that good communication and training for drivers and mechanics is important to a successful ESB implementation. Beaver and Snow noted that drivers need to be specifically trained on things like regenerative braking and handling the extra weight of ESBs with heavy batteries.

Beaver said he eases his team’s trepidation with ESBs by reminding them, “It’s just a school bus.”

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^{Images by Vince Rios Creative.}

Fuel of Choice
Blue Bird

Stephen Whaley, alternative fuels manager for Blue Bird Corporation, reviewed the upcoming California Air Resources Board (CARB) emissions reduction from 0.2 g/bhp-hr to 0.035 g/bhp-hr in 2027, the disruptive growth of alternative fuels in Blue Bird’s business and why school districts should consider clean fuels.

During a panel discussion he reviewed the stories of Kay Cornelius, transportation director for rural St. Louis County Schools in northern Minnesota, Diana Mikelski, director of transportation for District 211 in Illinois, and Anthony Jackson, executive director of transportation for Bibb County School District in Georgia, who praised propane school buses for their reliability and quiet operation as well as both fuel and maintenance savings.

Chris Horstman noted from his career experience – as a past school bus driver and current director of transportation for Ithaca City School District in New York – that misconceptions about propane and gasoline buses had to be overcome but that both have proved durable. Gas and propane both produced significant savings over diesel, he said.

Andrew Thompson, fleet manager for Boulder Valley School District in Colorado, runs mostly diesel, propane and gasoline. The district later acquired the state’s first electric school bus, which he said was met with some hesitation but did not require complicated infrastructure setup. The plan is to transition to 50 percent electric buses over 15 years. Thompson discussed his DC fast charger preferences and noted the differences between Level II and Level III chargers.

Both panelists agreed that maintenance professionals find the propane buses easier to work on.

Additionally, John Wyskiel, new president and CEO of Blue Bird, took the stage Monday morning, July 14, before magician Jon Petz’s keynote and recapped the OEM’s dedication to safety, demonstrated through the standardization of lap-shoulder belts, driver airbags, LED lighting, collision mitigation systems and more safety equipment. Blue Bird also supports propane and electric school bus deployment, with the most ESBs deployed in the U.S. — 2,500.

He praised Blue Bird’s partners, dealers and employees who help support school districts around the nation and reaffirmed a commitment to continued service in anticipation of the company’s upcoming centennial in 2027.

Your Route. Reimagined.
Micro Bird

Alexandre Ratte, vice president of sales and marketing, recapped Micro Bird’s three generations of quality and safety and reiterated its commitment to progress and growth. Its gasoline, propane and electric solutions are all built in house.

Marc Gravel, general manager of Micro Bird’s electric subsidiary Ecotuned, next revealed that the G5e Type A electric school bus, which was introduced last year at STN EXPO West, is in full production with buses being delivered to customers. This bus was part of the STN EXPO West Ride and Drive event on Sunday evening in the parking lot of the Peppermill Resort Casino.

Two G5e options provide a choice of either 150- or 200-mile range. The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery packs come with an eight-year warranty and the buses can support both fast DC and AC charging. Vehicle to grid (V2G) technology and over the air updates are also supported.

Gravel shared that the G5e endured 100+ degree temperatures on a trip through the Mohave Desert, while also revealing valuable learning lessons about the need for increased charging infrastructure. The bus also performed well in negative 15-degree temperatures in Canada, he added.

Gravel reiterated the company’s dedication to customer service, borne out by the Micro Bird Academy and expert service available across 70 service locations throughout North America.

The Healthy, Cost-effective Route to School Transportation
Propane Education & Research Council

Read full article.

Driving the Future with Cummins: Forging a Sustainable Outlook
Cummins

“Clean energy is our future,” declared Richard Garvin, director of strategy and commercial business development for Cummins.

Francisco Lagunas, general manager for the Cummins North American bus market, reiterated the company’s support for the EV market. “Wherever you are in your electrification plans, we will meet you there – and we have a whole ecosystem to assist you,” he confirmed.

Matt McGinn, senior director of EV sales and business development for Cummins, noted that districts can see current energy market shifts as an opportunity to diversify rather than as an obstacle.

When it comes to future-proofing, Garvin added that securing funding sources like grants is a big part of it. McGinn said that the best solution for each district depends on its location and goals. Senior Gas Sales Executive Emilliano Pantner confirmed that Cummins is there to help no matter what bus or infrastructure combinations a district needs to achieve those goals.

Pantner, who also oversees microgrids, noted that districts should have a good handle on their current data and metrics to then develop a plan for clean energy that also aligns with operational and student needs. Garvin spoke about the patience that is needed for each district’s “Road to Zero,” which for Cummins has an achievement goal of 2050.

“This is going to be incremental rather than rapid,” he said. “We need to be transparent and collaborative to reach those goals.”

Comprehensive training, online resources and customer service are integral parts of Cummins’ offerings, panelists confirmed.

Attendees shared their concerns about rampant parts unavailability and questioned what Cummins is doing at the federal level to support EV funding for districts who have begun their electrification journeys and are now facing funding loss. Panelists confirmed Cummins’ efforts in parts tracking, grant seeking and federal lobbying, though they confirmed that some things in flux are out of their control. Cummins is always open to feedback and dedicated to improvement, they stated.

Innovative Parts Management Strategies, Solutions for Fleet Management
IC Bus

“You guys have a lot going on and we want to come up with solutions that make your life easier and make you better at what you do,” said Alex Borror, sales director for IC Bus parent company International.

He shared how OnCommand Connection now comes standard on all IC Buses and allows mechanics visibility to alerts in real time so they can direct the driver to come in for service if needed. Though its focus is vehicle health, it also tracks GPS and driver behavior to allow for training opportunities. Electric school bus operators, especially, can find valuable insights in the dashboard and related app, Borror added.

He also shared that IC Bus dealers can help locate funding for electric and other types of buses through their Incentive Prospecting Tool. Additionally, Sourcewell is legally aligned with the OEM to help streamline the purchasing process.

Gregory Baze, national parts account manager for IC Bus, revealed feedback that school district maintenance professionals were spending a lot of time on the phone or internet trying to locate parts or putting together standard stock orders.

RepairLink is an ecommerce platform designed to help mitigate those pain points by allowing dealer customers to look up and order the parts they need on their own, at no extra cost. Benefits include time saved, greater inventory availability, real-time order updates, a VIN-based catalog, easy reorder of saved carts, and cost-saving promotions.

Baze noted that this service was a positive development due to the trend toward online purchasing which has made its way over to the school bus industry. Setup, search and ordering are easy, and there is a buyback program.

“We do more than sell buses,” Baze summed up. “If you’ve got a problem, don’t suffer through it alone.”

Attendees asked about whether parts can be tracked, like on Amazon, and Baze responded that technology is progressing quickly, with that feature planned for wide rollout. A question was presented on the shortage of electric bus mechanics from dealers, which panelists said is being temporarily alleviated through satellite service stations while district mechanic training is ramped up. Multiple attendees expressed the need for more ESB training, which Baze and Borror encouraged them to get from their dealers and the IC Bus University.

Powering the Future: Practical Insights for Electric Bus Charging
EO Charging

“EV and school bus make a great marriage,” declared Brad Beauchamp, EV product segment leader for Blue Bird.

Adam Wilkum, North American sales director for UK-based turnkey provider EO Charging, noted that EV charging is an area where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. “Don’t be afraid of vendors,” he quipped.

Marc Riccio, vice president of strategic partnerships for comprehensive charging solutions provider Highland Electric Fleets, pointed out that a flawed infrastructure setup that lacks futureproofing and copious communication with partners wreaks havoc with timelines and budgets. He advised “patience, perspective and persistence” through the process.

Manny Huguez, president of charging technology provider Zerova Technologies, said vendor partnerships cover all bases and help districts not only set up but also optimize their new electrified operation. They must also be carefully chosen since businesses do leave the EV space, as in the case of the recently bankrupt bus manufacturer Lion Electric Company. Districts must be mindful and do their due diligence.

“Pick a partner, not a product,” he advised. “You have to be able to depend on them for the long run.”

Beauchamp reviewed several aspects districts should carefully consider, including Level II versus Level III charger choice and bus to charger interoperability.

Huguez underscored how mission critical such considerations are so students are not left stranded. “We aren’t delivering packages here,” he said. He added that training is being expanded so district mechanics can service ESBs instead of waiting hours for certified technicians to do so.

Riccio spoke on how the fixed schedules and timing of school bus routes, as well as the fact that buses are basically batteries on wheels, makes them ideal for vehicle to grid (V2G) and vehicle to everything (V2X) use cases or emergency response situations where the main electrical grid is down.

The panelists spoke to the ever-changing and improving nature of EV technology and looked to the future with optimism. Beauchamp stated that, despite federal Clean School Bus Program funding slowing down, EV isn’t going anywhere and will continue to grow.

The post Roundup: Informative Green Bus Summit Held at STN EXPO West appeared first on School Transportation News.

School Transportation News sat down with Patrick Duan, Co-CEO at RIDE to learn more about how the electric school bus manufacturer is approaching the North American school bus market and the future of funding.

Duan started his career with parent company BYD in 2004, serving as a design engineer. He continued up the ranks, ultimately serving as the senior vice president of operations. After 20 years with BYD, Duan became the co-chief executive officer of the new RIDE division. He’s held the position for the past two years.

RIDE, which offers purpose built electric school buses, launched its Achiever Type A followed by its Dreamer Type D in 2021. Its Creator Type C officially entered the market last summer, at which point STN EXPO West trade show attendees voted it the Best Green Technology.

Duan discusses the guiding principles of RIDE, the remaining challenges and emerging opportunities of electric school buses, and more.

STN: What inspires RIDE when creating new school buses and technology?

Duan: At RIDE, we develop and deliver innovative transportation technologies designed to positively impact people’s lives, especially those of children, our most important passengers. Inspired by a deep commitment to safety and health, we strive to create solutions that ensure a secure and nurturing journey for the next generation.

STN: What is your long-term vision for the future of school transportation in the U.S., and how does RIDE fit into that picture?

Duan: School transportation will not only be safer, cleaner and more efficient, but it will also contribute to energy resiliency. Battery-electric school buses serve as mobile energy storage units, integrating with local microgrids to support the community’s energy needs.
RIDE emphasizes the innovation of battery technology and integration with charging infrastructure and utility platforms, while maintaining a strong focus on customer support.

STN: What do you see as the advantages of electric school buses, beyond the environmental benefits?

Duan: Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G). Bi-directional capability allows electric school buses to both draw power from and supply power to the grid. This enables ESBs to act as distributed energy resources, supporting grid stability, peek shaving, and energy storage, making them active participants in modern, flexible grid systems. V2G capability makes ESBs not only cleaner but also more cost-efficient for school transportation by allowing electric school buses to store energy when demand and prices are low and feed that energy back to the grid when demand is high.

STN: What are some of the challenges school districts face when transitioning to electric school buses? How is RIDE helping them overcome those barriers?

Duan: Transitioning to ESBs requires extensive project coordination among key stakeholders, including OEMs, contractors and utility companies. While ESBs offer significant long-term cost savings over traditional powertrains, the initial investment for vehicles, chargers and infrastructure can be substantial. RIDE Eco, a dedicated team supported by a nationwide network of partners, was formed three years ago to deliver turnkey solutions that cover charging infrastructure, technology integration and project financing, simplifying the transition for school districts.

STN: What has customer feedback been on the Type C Creator that STN EXPO West attendees awarded Best Green Technology last year?

Duan: Thank you for the recognition. We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback on the quiet, smooth operation of the Creator, as well as its versatile range of vehicle sizes and battery capacities. What truly sets the Creator apart is its commitment to safety—featuring the “Blade Battery” design—and our industry-leading, 12-year, 800 MWh throughput battery warranty, providing unmatched long-term value and peace of mind.

STN: Why is the Blade an important long-term technological advancement for RIDE’s electric school buses?

Duan: The new Blade Battery offers exceptional safety and longevity. Built with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, it has passed demanding safety tests—including the nail penetration test—without emitting smoke or fire, showcasing outstanding thermal stability. Its innovative blade-shaped, cell-to-pack architecture eliminates traditional modules, significantly boosting space efficiency and enabling higher volumetric energy density for extended driving range.

STN: Can you share any details of pilot programs or partnerships that you see as proving the business case for electric school buses?

Duan: Since 2024, we have delivered over 160 electric school buses in the U.S. A flagship deployment in Northern California features 75 RIDE Achiever buses equipped with V2G technology. On average, this fleet collectively returns 4.5 MWh of energy to the grid each day—enough to power approximately 150 homes for a full day.

STN: How do you see policy and funding (EPA Clean School Bus Program, state funding, mandates, regulations) playing a role in accelerating the adoption of electric school buses?

Duan: Federal and state-level funding and mandates are essential for accelerating the adoption of ESBs. Programs such as the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program provide substantial grants and rebates that help offset the upfront costs of the vehicles and associated charging infrastructure. In addition, state-level incentives increase affordability and often align with broader climate and transportation goals. States like California have
implemented mandates with clear timelines, creating market certainty for school districts, manufacturers and utility providers.

These funding mechanisms often go beyond vehicle procurement, including support for planning and infrastructure development. This ensures that districts are equipped not only with buses, but also with the necessary charging equipment, workforce training and grid upgrades. Such support is especially critical for enabling advanced technologies like V2G, which require robust infrastructure and coordination across multiple sectors.

STN: How do you see tariffs impacting the industry?

Duan: Tariffs could significantly impact the entire school bus industry and its supply chain. This is particularly true for the rapidly growing ESB sector, where tariffs can create short-term cost pressures and disrupt supply chains. These added costs may slow down deployment and strain school district budgets.

STN: Why did RIDE choose to build up its school bus inventory instead of 100-percent, made-to-order like other OEMs?

Duan: RIDE brings extensive experience in designing and manufacturing a wide range of commercial electric vehicles, including transit buses and coaches—segments that typically operate within a made-to-order, highly customized market. However, when we began developing our school bus platforms several years ago, we recognized a unique opportunity: To standardize the platform design.

This strategic shift has enabled significant improvements in our manufacturing processes, enhancing overall production efficiency, consistency and scalability. By moving away from a fully customized model and adopting a standardized approach for school buses, RIDE is better positioned to meet growing demand, streamline operations and deliver high-quality electric school buses at scale.

STN: What other innovations or trends are you most excited about in the next five years for school bus fleet electrification?

Duan: Two major innovations are poised to redefine the future of electric school bus fleets. First is the mass-market implementation of V2G technology, which positions ESBs as critical assets in energy resilience. By enabling bidirectional charging, school buses can store and return electricity to the grid, supporting peak load management, emergency back up, and greater grid stability.

Second is the integration of advanced driver assistance technologies, a game changer for both safety and operational performance. These technologies enhance driver and passenger safety, improve the overall driving experience, help address the ongoing driver shortage by easing workload, and boost fleet efficiency through features such as automated braking, lane-keeping and collision avoidance.

STN: Thank you.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the June 2025 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: (STN Podcast E265) Onsite at STN EXPO West: Innovations & Partnerships for School Transportation Success
Related: Funding, Data and Resiliency Needed for Electric School Bus Success
Related: V2G Legislation Looks to School Buses to Help Power Electric Grid
Related: Gallery: Green Buses, Bus Technology Highlighted on STN EXPO West Day 3

The post Going On an Electric RIDE With Patrick Duan appeared first on School Transportation News.

Despite not meeting since 2015 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Congress on School Transportation in Des Moines, Iowa last month concluded one half day ahead of schedule.

The early finish was noted by steering committee chair Michael LaRocco, state director student transportation services for the Indiana Department of Education, and on-site chair Charlie Hood, a former NASDPTS president and retired state director for Florida, who attributed the expedited conclusion to the understood importance of the process.

As a first-time attendee—like many in the room—the organized structure of the proceedings was apparent. Like a well-oiled machine, each committee took the stage and presented the proposed changes, with delegates agreeing quickly, or putting up a fight on something as seemingly simple as a word choice.

Much of the debate occurred over three words: May, Should and Shall. But those are important delineations, I learned.

Shall is the most stringent, a legal obligation. May connotates allowable equipment or processes. Should is a recommendation. I questioned why the wording matters, especially if the book itself is intended to serve as a best-practice resource and not a requirement in many states. It all comes down to legalities.

For instance, say a school district doesn’t equip its school buses with crossing arms and a student gets hurt, when a crossing arm could have prevented the injury. The specifications manual could be used in court, and the district would have to defend the decision of not equipping vehicles with the available safety device.

Despite no delegates speaking on the crossing gates proposal, it passed in one of the most controversial votes, 34 to 13, changing “may” have to “shall” have.

Word choice remained important to the delegations and was a sticking point for most amended changes. Whether that word choice was changing school district to local education agency, using the word student versus child, or removing the word privilege when referring to school transportation. One Michigan delegate argued the service should no longer be a privilege but a right, especially when a student’s on-board behavior is an issue.

One delegate even noted at the start of the Congress that using the word shall could be subjective language and called upon the states to use the term must as universal language when referring to requirements throughout the entire specs manual.

“Must is a directive,” the Michigan delegate shared. However, Hood reminded delegates that rules were already accepted and such changes could not be made at that time.

Proposal 50 of the school bus specifications committee was one of the few that was granted extra time for discussion (each proposal is allocated a total of 15 minutes) due to wording relating to mitigating a child being left on a school bus and preemptive procedures for the driver to take. The proposal stated that passenger advisory systems are optional but if installed, “a passenger advisory system shall require the driver to walk through the bus looking for sleeping children before leaving the bus. The driver shall have to push a button at the rear of the bus to deactivate the alarm. If the driver tries to leave the bus without deactivating the system, the system shall cause the horn to sound, notifying others that the bus is still occupied.”

The proposal added a description for how the passenger advisory system works. Delegates, however, found that the language was too specific to a procedure or system. It was amended to remove the description, as delegates pointed out some systems don’t use a button. Instead, the proposal was updated to state that the driver shall walk the bus aisle, look for sleeping children, and proceed to the rear of the bus to deactivate the system.

Another proposal in the specially equipped school bus specifications committee discussed the use of air conditioning. The proposal stated, “Climate control options shall be installed that include heating and air conditioning.” However, delegates voted 37 to 7 that changing shall to may was more appropriate to address the various climates across the U.S.

2025 New Committees
New this year was the addition of the emerging technologies and alternative transportation committees as well as the separation of infants, toddlers and preschoolers from transportation for students with disabilities and health care needs. The emerging technologies committees proceeded quickly, with one Maryland delegate questioning the need for inserting language into the specs manual as opposed to creating a guide that can be updated more regularly for school districts.

“What’s new today is old tomorrow,” a delegate commented. Alternative transportation was an especially hot topic. Many agreed that it was necessary to discuss but in little detail, leaving most governing to state and local decision makers. For instance, a line item for driver credentials stated that alternative transportation drivers “be at least 18 years of age or commensurate with the state’s required age and required years of driving to become a school bus driver.” The delegates felt the age was not necessary and should be removed, leaving the decision to the state.

One delegate suggested a policy consideration for not allowing students to be transported in the front seat of alternative transportation vehicles under any circumstances. However, other delegates had concerns, stating that a 10-passenger van would be limited to nine passengers. A Kentucky delegate said their school district allows high school students to sit in the front when space is limited. The proposed amendment failed by a vote of 31 to 9.

The delegates voted to remove the types of alternative transportation driver training (12 bullet points ranging from defensive driving to operations in inclement weather to safe loading and unloading) to instead comply with federal, state and local requirements.

After two days of the delegates sharing their opinions, presenting amendments and approving proposals (or not), the 17th NCST concluded with the resolutions committee. Resolution 2 states that “School Transportation News in a March 2024 publication identified a reporting issue that indicates the school bus is disappearing.”

STN Editor-in-Chief Ryan Gray’s column “The Disappearing School Bus?” highlighted a discrepancy between historically reported numbers of students who ride the school and those of the National Household Travel Survey sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration.

The resolution noted the need to develop a standardized reporting system for collecting ridership data and called on “the interim Steering Committee of the 18th NCST to appoint a focus group to research and develop recommendations for standardization of data collection relative to ridership on school bus and make periodic reports to the Interim Committee.”

The 2024 National Household Travel Survey is currently about halfway through data collection, which will run through Oct. 31 of this year. Meanwhile, the dates and location of the 18th NCST were not announced. State delegates were surveyed about if they felt meeting every five years was appropriate, or if they would rather meet every two or three years. The results were not available at this writing.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the June 2025 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: NASDPTS Publishes Paper Espousing Safety of School Buses Over Alternative Transportation
Related: National Congress Finishes Early After 10-Year Hiatus
Related: National Congress on School Transportation Delayed Until 2025
Related: National Congress on School Transportation Writing Committees Prepare for 2025 Meeting

The post May, Should, Shall? appeared first on School Transportation News.

Amid a stunning financial turnaround over the found its leader to succeed Phil Horlock as both president and CEO. Personal reasons forced Blue Bird to go in a different direction last fall after Britton Smith unceremoniously resigned. But the company didn’t have to look far for the best candidate to step up and into the position.

Wyskiel had spent the previous two decades leading Magna International, the last five years as global president of the manufacturer’s seating division. But he knows school buses intimately. He came to Magna over 15 years ago from Canadian Blue Bird Coach, where he was general manager of Type A and Type C school bus body and assembly production.

“John’s deep and varied expertise in operational excellence and manufacturing leadership makes him an ideal fit for this role at this time,” Doug Grimm, chairman of Blue Bird, said when Wyskiel’s name was announced in January. “His proven track record will be invaluable as we expand our footprint and improve our operational processes to support our customers.”

School Transportation News caught up with Wyskiel shortly after he started on Feb. 17 to discuss the company’s evolution as it prepares to celebrate its 100th birthday in 2027, the same year the industry is poised to meet the latest federal emissions standards that were still under review by the new Trump administration EPA. Editor’s note Wyskiel declined to comment on tariff impacts, referring instead to a previous statement made by Horlock in January that Blue Bird would pass along any additional manufacturing costs to customers.

STN: How has Blue Bird changed since you were last mpart of the company 20 years ago?

Wyskiel: Of course, the company is publicly traded today, and it has been successful financially. However, at its core, the DNA of this century-old American company has not changed. There is a strong sense of pride within Blue Bird reflecting a company culture that deeply cares about people. The talent within the company has continued to expand over the years in all functional areas. Operationally, you can see a much greater focus on metrics and key performance indicators, which has enabled Blue Bird to become very focused and to make data-based decisions. From a product perspective, our rich history of innovations [are] on full display, particularly around alternative powertrain offerings. All of these developments have turned Blue Bird into a high performance business and strengthened its iconic brand.

STN: How would you describe your leadership style? What is your strategic vision for Blue Bird?

Wyskiel: I am a pretty engaged operator, and I believe people work best in an environment which fosters empowerment and accountability. Plus, when there is an issue, there is no substitute for “go see.” Whether it’s on the shop floor, at a dealer or at a customer, there is no substitution. I have returned to Blue Bird after a 20-year hiatus only a few weeks ago [at interview time]. Therefore, it’s a little early to talk strategy in specifics just yet. But I think the theme will be to shift to a long-term view for our customers, dealers, team members and investors. This means investing in facilities, our products and expanding into adjacent markets where we can. This great company has been around for almost 100 years, and my objective is to set it up for success for decades to come.

STN: Blue Bird currently offers more fuel choices than any other school bus manufacturer. Why is this important especially in the current political environment?

Wyskiel: Blue Bird offers the widest powertrain portfolio in the markets diesel, gasoline, propane and, of course, electric. We believe there is no one answer for customers. They want choice for their districts. A broad product portfolio allows them to tailor the value proposition to their specific needs. It could be total cost of operation, overall durability, ease of refueling, or the advantages of zero emissions. And if you look at the current political environment, it is just a benefit to have the widest offering as we cover every area in the market regardless of where legislation ends up. Blue Bird undoubtedly has the broadest offering, our success in the marketplace validates our strategy.

Moving forward, I do hope to see a more predictable regulatory environment for our industry. Manufacturers need to plan years in advance and commit to product development and investment. So, directional stability is not simply helpful, it is essential. I think the move to zero emissions will continue to advance longer term, it just may take longer to get there. In the school bus market, it makes so much sense. The duty cycle fits electrification and charging, range is not an issue since school district routes are normally shorter, and zero emissions advances student health and performance.

STN: What is Blue Bird doing to strengthen the long-term health of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program?

Wyskiel: The 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Program is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides a total of $5 billion over five years for clean school bus transportation. To date, the EPA has awarded almost $3 billion to fund approximately 9,000 school bus replacements, approximately 95 percent of which are zero-emission, battery-electric. Funding has been awarded to more than 1,300 school districts in nearly all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

There is no question the program had an overwhelmingly positive impact on children, communities and American manufacturing, bringing invaluable opportunities to school districts to transition their fleets to zero-emission school buses. Communities across the country have benefited from the reduction in diesel tailpipe emissions that can negatively impact student and community health. As the leader in low- and zero-emission school buses, we have communicated and promoted the benefit at all levels of government.

STN: Can you update us on the status of standard lap/shoulder seatbelts and other safety technology like driver airbags?

Wyskiel: Blue Bird is recognized as a technology leader and innovator of school buses since its founding in 1927. Our dedicated team designs and manufactures school buses with a singular focus on safety, reliability and durability. School buses carry the most precious cargo in the world, 25 million children twice a day, making them the most trusted mode of student transportation.

Blue Bird made lap/shoulder belts standard on its buses late last year and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Similarly, we will introduce airbags protecting drivers this fall. It’s a testimony to Blue Bird, whose school buses are designed, not adapted to the market, and whose focus on safety has been industry leading. If you could fast forward a decade, we will probably look back and wonder how school transportation didn’t include seatbelts and airbags all along. I am proud that Blue Bird has taken the lead role in this area.

STN: Thank you.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the May 2025 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: (STN Podcast E259) Feel the Passion: Debates on Wi-Fi, Technology, Alternative Transportation & Safety
Related: Blue Bird Showcases Zero- and Low-Emission Commercial Vehicle Platforms at 2025 Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo
Related: Q&A: Back to School with New NAPT Executive Director McGee-Hewitt
Related: (STN Podcast E212) On the Horizon: Technology Showcases & Clean Bus Discussions at ACT Expo

The post Wyskiel Steers Blue Bird Toward its Second Century appeared first on School Transportation News.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a letter of non-enforcement for school bus child safety restraint systems tied to updates made to FMVSS 213.

NHTSA proposed on May 30 amendments to Child Restraint System Standards FMVSS 213, FMVSS 213a and FMVSS 213b to exempt school bus child safety restraint systems from the requirement to comply with side-impact protection requirements defined in FMVSS 213a. Charlie Vits, a child passenger safety technician and consultant to school bus seating manufacturer IMMI, said during STN EXPO West in Reno, Nevada, that NHTSA issued a letter of non-enforcement for school bus CSRS, allowing for the continued use of the safety restraints designed for school buses.

On July 2, NHTSA stated that it “recognizes that because the date on which the comment period closes is the same as the compliance date for FMVSS No. 213a, it will not be possible to publish a final rule prior to the current compliance date. NHTSA is concerned that the regulatory uncertainty likely to arise for the period of time in between the June 30 compliance date and any published final rule will lead to a decrease in overall levels of CRS safety as fewer CRS options are available for the public,” it stated.

It noted that in the public interest, NHTSA is exercising its discretion to temporarily pause enforcement of the applicability of FMVSS No. 213a for CRSs produced on or after June 30, 2025, and until the date of publication of any rule finalizing the May 30 proposal.

“NHTSA emphasizes, however, that under 49 U.S.C. 30115(a), a manufacturer may not certify to a standard if, in exercising reasonable care, the manufacturer has reason to know that the certification is false or misleading in a material respect. As such, even while the enforcement of the applicability of FMVSS No. 213a is paused, if a manufacturer continues to certify to the standard, the manufacturer must have a good faith basis that the CRS meets the standard,” NHTSA added.

Meanwhile, in addition to delaying the side-impact protection compliance date for all other child restraint systems from June 30, 2025, to Dec. 5, 2026, the proposal provides that the Child Restraint Air Bag Interaction 12-month-old (CRABI)-12MO test dummy will not be used to test forward-facing CRSs.

NHTSA proposes to amend FMVSS No. 213, “Child Restraint Systems” and FMVSS No. 213b, child restraint systems: Mandatory applicability beginning Dec. 5, 2026,” to exclude school bus CRSs from the requirements and to provide attachments for connection to the vehicle’s LATCH child restraint anchorage system. These anchorages are only required in school buses that are 10,000 pounds GVWR and less.

Vits, a child passenger safety technician and a consultant to school bus seating manufacturer IMMI, said NHTSA has always been supportive of school bus child restraint systems since the 2003 introduction of IMMI’s SafeGuard STAR as well as the Besi Pro Tech and HSM PCR.

As currently designed for school transportation, NHTSA wants to assure their continued future availability and use, Vits said, adding the purpose of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published on the Federal Register last week is to remove three important but non-applicable regulatory details impacting their design and function.

“Unless these detailed requirements are removed from FMVSS 213, 213a and 213b as currently written, the production of these school bus child restraints will most likely cease on June 30, 2025, when the three requirements are to become effective,” he said.

These child restraint systems will no longer be compliant with the federal child restraint standards unless they are redesigned and constructed as a more costly and less usable product, Vits added.

Denise Donaldson, a certified passenger safety instructor and editor and publisher of Safe Ride News, noted the recent proposals are essentially housekeeping in nature.

“The more exciting development occurred in 2023, when NHTSA issued a final rule to create a product category specifically for school bus child restraint systems,” she explained. “Although these products were previously considered compliant with FMVSS 213 under the category harness, the new category’s description gives manufacturers greater freedom to innovate when designing products made exclusively for school bus use.”

When that rule was issued, Donaldson said incongruities with school bus CRSs remained in the regulatory text.

“Since these products install using a seatback mount, they needed to be made exempt from the standard’s requirement that car seats have a LATCH system for installation,” she added. “They should be exempt from the upcoming side-impact standard since the test in that standard replicates a passenger vehicle environment, substantially different from a school bus. These are loose ends, so the proposals are important for addressing these issues and satisfying the requests of petitioners, including manufacturers.”

Vits noted the NPRM cleans up regulatory language from current rulings that school bus child restraint systems could not meet due to the nature of their design.

Meeting the requirements would require costly redesigns resulting in a less usable school bus child restraint, he said, adding, “The intent of NHTSA is not to change anything that impacts the concept of the current school bus child restraint.”

In 2014, NHTSA first published proposed rulemaking to add side-impact crash protection to all types of child seats except harnesses, otherwise known as school bus vests, Vits said.

“IMMI commented on the NPRM that although it supported side-impact protection requirements in child restraints, school bus child restraints were similar to the excluded harnesses and not capable of meeting those requirements,” he added. “The nature of the web-based, no-shell design for these child restraints does not provide the necessary structure to meet these requirements. Therefore, school bus child restraint systems should also be excluded from meeting the side- impact protection requirements.”

NHTSA published the final ruling on side impact requirements as FMVSS 213a on June 30, 2022. But, Vits noted, NHTSA had yet to formally define school bus child restraints as a type of child restraint, so they could not exclude it from side impact requirements.

With FMVSS 213b in December 2023, NHTSA formally defined it as a type of child restraint but omitted excluding it from the requirements of FMVSS 213a. He said the oversight was to have been corrected in a to-be-published ruling last Oct. 9 but again was missed.

IMMI submitted a Petition for Rulemaking on Jan. 19 that formally requested NHTSA change the regulations to exclude school bus child restraints from the FMVSS 213a requirements, resulting in last week’s NPRM. IMMI also found the requirement to include LATCH and tether connectors and their associated labeling remained as a requirement for school bus child restraints, Vits said.

“IMMI submitted another Petition for Rulemaking on May 19, 2025, formally requesting NHTSA to change the regulations to exclude school bus child restraints from the LATCH connector and associated labeling requirements of FMVSS 213 and 213b,” he said, adding the change was also included in the NPRM.

Related: NHTSA Rulemaking at Heart of NCST Resolutions Focused on Safety
Related: What Transporters Must Know About CSRS for Preschoolers on School Buses
Related: CSRS Decisions During IEP Avoid Seclusion, Restraint Issues

Several other regulatory product developments impacted passenger vehicle child seat manufacturers and caused concern they would not be able to meet the FMVSS 213a effective date of June 30, 2025. In response to the petitions of these manufacturers,Vits said NHTSA published the NPRM to propose delaying the effective date of FMVSS 213a to Dec. 5, 2026, the same effective date of FMVSS 213b.

The proposals “are what is needed to set the standard’s school bus CRS category on the correct footing, allowing current CSRs models to be compliant and opening the door for future innovation,” Donaldson, who favors the proposals, pointed out.

“School bus child restraints have served the industry well for the past 22 years,” she added. “They have provided critical protection to pre-K children in numerous school bus crashes over the years. They need to continue to be available to school transportation for years to come.”

While Donaldson expressed confidence that NHTSA will make the necessary changes to FMVSS 213a and 213b, Vits commented that unless NHTSA acts immediately according to the proposed ruling, manufacturers will need to cease production.

“Although the comment period closes on June 30, NHTSA wants to hear from those in the industry as soon as possible due to the urgency to turn this NPRM into a final ruling,” he added. “They want to know that transporters of pre-K children want these school bus child restraints now and in the future.”

In providing input by June 30, Vits noted “comments should be short and simple, beginning with a statement in support of the May 30, 2025 NPRM, FR Doc. 2025-09750. Then, briefly share your positive experiences with these type of child restraints, especially if they have provided protection to any of your children in crashes.

“Express your need to have them continue in production without adding requirements to provide side impact protection and LATCH anchorage connectors.”

Public comments on docket number NHTSA–2025–0046 can be submitted electronically at the Federal eRulemaking Portal or via U.S. mail to: Docket Management Facility, M–30, U.S. Department of Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12–140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.

Donaldson noted in creating the school bus CRS category in 2023, NHTSA clearly signaled its support of this type of child safety restraint system.

“I feel confident that a rule that finalizes these important proposals, which are necessary to make that category viable, will be forthcoming,” she added.

Ronna Weber, executive director for the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, said the National Congress on School Transportation’s Resolution No. 6, Request for Clarification on FMVSS 213a and 213b Final Rules, approved by state delegates last month underscores the industry’s commitment to safely transporting preschool and special needs children, a sizeable industry component.

The resolution noted that any regulations should continue to ensure children requiring securement based on age and weight are carried safely and securely, CRSs are attached to the seat back to ensure a secure fit for the child. It is believed approximately 310,000 to 335,000 CRSs designed for school buses are on the road today.

NHTSA also published a total of 16 NPRMs on May 30, most of which are considered deregulatory by cleaning up obsolete ruling text related to requirements for vehicles produced more than 10 years ago. Rules pertaining to school buses include: FMVSS 207: Seating Systems, FMVSS 210: Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages, and FMVSS 222: School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection

As no new requirements are being added, there is little merit in commenting on them, commented Charlie Vits, a certified passenger safety technician and consultant to IMMI.

Donaldson said those in the school transportation sector should be assured that their school-bus-only CSRS and any that they purchase while the NPRM is going through the rulemaking process continue to be safe and legal.

“These regulatory changes will not necessitate though would allow future redesign of these products,” she said. “However, another aspect of the 2023 final rule that applies to any forward-facing child restraint, including school-bus-only CSRS, requires labels and instructions to state a minimum child weight for riding forward facing of 26.5 pounds.

“The compliance deadline for this requirement is June 30, 2025. For school-bus-only CSRS, this means that a rider must be at least 26.5 pounds, which is slightly higher than the pre-rule-change minimum weight of 25 pounds for most models.”

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include the letter of non-compliance. Taylor Ekbatani contributed to this report. 

The post Update: NHTSA Seeks Fix to Child Safety Restraint Standard Affecting School Buses appeared first on School Transportation News.

In recognition of Distracted Driving Month in April, Bus Gates provided school districts with free products for a hands-on trial of the bus extension arms. School district leaders say the equipment can be part of the solution to combating illegal passing, in conjunction with enforcement cameras and driver training.

Nathanael Spence, coordinator of transportation for Amityville Public Schools in New York, noted that throughout his 18 years in transportation, he’s remained committed to finding innovative, data-driven solutions to reduce illegal passing and improve student safety.

“I’ve had hands-on experience piloting both BusPatrol enforcement cameras and two types of extended stop arms, and I’ve observed firsthand how each tool serves a unique purpose,” he said. “Extended stop arms are like the crossing gates at a railroad, designed to prevent tragedy by stopping motorists before danger strikes. Stop-arm cameras, while valuable, only document what should’ve been stopped. In safety, real protection comes from being proactive, not just recording reactions.”

He added that he believes a comprehensive approach consisting of both enforcement systems and extended stop-arms offers the greatest potential to change driver behavior and protect students. Spence noted Amityville began the school year with two Bus Gate units installed and has since expanded to four.

A Bus Gates pilot project for extended stop arms on school buses was launched in conjunction with Distracted Driving Awareness Month, with the goal of getting the extended stop-arm product in the hands of users.

“When you have that testimonial from the boots on the ground, the folks that are seeing the interaction with cars every single day, there’s just no substitute for that,” said Trevor Clatfelter, co-founder of Bus Gates. “So that allows us to get the product out there even further and get it on school busses even faster.”

 

He added that the bus extension arms are 95 percent effective in reducing illegal passing incidents.

 

Even though the program launched in April, it will remain available to school districts on a limited basis, pending inventory. Clatfelter noted that districts are not required to send the stop arm back and can choose to continue to use the product at no charge.

 

“We don’t care if your fleet has five buses or 50 buses or 500 buses,” he added. “We want to get the product out there to make every school child’s day safer.”

 

The product is added to the existing stop arm installed on the school bus. Bus Gate’s longest product extends six and half feet from the side of the bus, weighs less than three pounds, and includes flashing LED lights on the stop sign. Installation, Clatfelter said, 15 to 30 minutes.

“It is a super simple, easy install, and they’re pretty universal to go on most stop arms,” he said, adding that his company found a couple instances where modifications had to be made.

Bus Gates offers a shorter stop-arm extender for the rear, if districts have dual stop arms.

 

For liability purposes, Clatfelter said the extension is part of the original, federally mandated stop arm and is therefore part of the school bus as well. In states that allow Bus Gates use, hitting the bus extension arm is considered the same as hitting the stop-arm or the school bus itself, and would all result in the same penalties.

 

“When we go to trade shows, we want to demonstrate the effectiveness of the product, but it’s obnoxious,” said Chris McCloud, founding partner at Bus Gates marketing agency Pendulum PR “It’s obnoxious in especially an indoor setting, and it is that way so that in inclement weather, during the day, foggy conditions, the lights on the product cut through all of that. So, it doesn’t have to be a perfect day or near dusk for the product to be really effective. … [W]hat we’re hearing and seeing from the school districts that are using the product is ta massive reduction in the problem, which is people driving around the bus in the first place.”

 

While other technologies exist to increase safety at and around school buses, Clatfelter said, “Bus gates prevent, cameras prosecute.”

 

McCloud added that Bus Gates are a proactive product designed to stop a motorist from illegally passing a school bus, “Whether it’s on purpose or, and in most cases, not.

 

“We all choose to believe that the majority of the people that illegally pass a bus are not doing so with the intent to harm anybody,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, cameras don’t stop the activity from happening. Now, they might be able to catch some people by grabbing their license plate and then serving them a ticket, which hopefully then says, ‘Hey, I’m not going to do this again because I don’t want to pay the fine.’ But ultimately, it’s better to just prevent the activity, reducing the danger from happening in the first place. That’s what Bus Gates is trying to do.”

“We’ve observed a significant reduction in passing motorist incidents on those buses,” Spence said. “Being located in Suffolk County [Long Island], where BusPatrol enforcement cameras are also installed, we’ve been able to use the combined data from both systems to assess the impact, and the results are compelling. Buses equipped with both extended stop arms and enforcement cameras have shown an almost complete drop in illegal pass-bys.”

These findings have encouraged fleetwide implementation, which will be completed in phases by the school district’s contractor. Spence noted that year one will consist of equipping all large buses with Bus Gates, followed by all small buses in year two.

“Once the full rollout is complete, I’m eager to leverage year-over-year BusPatrol passing motorist data to perform a comparative analysis,” he said. “This will allow us to clearly measure the long-term impact of extended stop arms across our entire fleet and share meaningful results with stakeholders and other districts considering similar initiatives.”

Spence shared that his background of working with another stop-arm extension company gave him strong points of comparison.

“Bus Gates offered a similar safety benefit at a fraction of the cost, making the opportunity to outfit our entire fleet both fiscally responsible and operationally feasible,” he said. “The decision ultimately wasn’t just about adopting new technology. It was about leading with intention, maximizing our resources and setting a statewide example in school transportation safety.”

He shared that school bus drivers have found the easy-to-operate product sends a clear message to motorists of stop means stop. “That visibility alone has created a stronger sense of security during student loading and unloading,” Spence said, adding that community members expressed strong support in an NBC New York article in October.

“Since then, we’ve received inquiries from coordinators and transportation supervisors in neighboring districts who are eager to learn more about the technology and its effectiveness,” he continued. “Bus Gates has sparked not just compliance, but conversation, and that’s exactly the kind of awareness we need to drive long-term change in motorist behavior.”

Meanwhile, Bryan Broome, transportation operations manager for Parkway School District in Missouri, said when he became the fleet manager a few years ago, his director at the time discussed the issue of people running stop arms, which created an unsafe condition for the students.

That put a bug in Broome’s ear, and while attending an industry trade show he saw Bus Gates demonstrating its product.

“I just personally felt that Bus Gates seemed like the best solution as far as ease of install as well as (being) less intrusive on the bus,” he said. “It’s an issue that we have nationally where people are running stop arms. It’s horrible.”

He noted that some routes experienced two to three illegal passers a day. He noted that the Bus Gates were first installed on these routes, which cut infractions to about two to three violations a week.

“We stopped the majority of them,” he said. “Then we did some more investigating and found out that we needed [to do more training] on bus stop etiquette, of not coming to a stop and expecting the other cars to be able to stop immediately. … We had to work with our drivers as far as reminding them and working with them on bus stop etiquette and procedures.”

He noted that Bus Gates is not the sole solution but an additional tool to increase safety.

Broome said that Bus Gates were initially installed on six school buses. The school district began installing the units fleetwide on school buses earlier this school year and is expected to finish by the end of the summer.

“When we got the six units, I only put the arms on three buses for the first month or so, just to kind of try them out and see,” he said. “And then after about the first two or three days, I had drivers pretty much climbing over each other trying to get one installed on their bus. The drivers love them. They are looking for any tool that they could possibly get to help them keep their students safe.”

He also spoke about the concerns that motorists may hit the extended stop arm. “That is why we pushed the bus stop etiquette for the [school bus] drivers. It’s not just coming to a stop as fast as possible and throwing your arms out because sometimes it takes people a minute to react,” he shared.

Related: Combatting Illegal Passing with Awareness, Technology
Related: Rhode Island District Adds School Bus Video to Reduce Illegal Passing
Related: Crossing Arms: Do They Work?

Instead, district leaders reminded drivers to be defensive rather than aggressive with the stop-arms. “People make mistakes while driving. Sometimes people aren’t paying attention to the bus,” he said. “So let’s give them a chance to stop, or if they’re going to speed around us, let them speed around you, but we need to work with our students to make sure that they understand that they shouldn’t approach the bus until the stop arm is out, and then the door is open and the driver signals them to cross and or board the bus.”

He said school bus drivers were trained to initiate the stop by first activating the yellow warning lights which indicate to the motorist that the school bus is stopping, whereas the reds mean the school bus is stopped.

“We still need to use the tool of the Bus Gates as well as the driver’s best judgment on when to signal the students to cross and board the bus,” he said. “If we just put a tool on the bus, it doesn’t mean they know how to use it properly. And if, for instance, [bus drivers] do come to a stop too short or they don’t have their yellows on for a long enough time, then if we ever had an incident where a driver struck the stop arm extension we could be liable for any damages because we weren’t using the best procedure to initiate the stop.”

The post Are Extended Stop Arms Part of Solution to Illegal School Bus Passing? appeared first on School Transportation News.

The government giveth, and the government taketh away? That may be the case for the future of school-bus Wi-Fi, which currently is eligible for E-Rate discount under the Federal Communication Commission’s Universal Services Fund.

Whether that will continue is now uncertain due to court cases challenging the validity of the USF funding model. In late March, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on an appeal of a 5th Circuit decision that the Universal Service Fund’s revenue mechanism represents an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.

The nation’s highest court is expected to rule by next month on whether that decision should be upheld. If the circuit court ruling is upheld, it would be a blow not only to school bus based Wi-Fi but also to other services supported by USF, especially E-Rate. The program provides discounts of 20 to 90 percent on the costs of internet connectivity for schools and libraries, low-income consumers and those in rural areas needing online access to health care providers. The FCC, which oversees USF, added school bus Wi-Fi to E-Rate in late 2023, with discounts awarded for the current school year.

Recent Movement
Looking specifically at school bus Wi-Fi, the opportunity to obtain federal support has been a relatively recent prospect. During the pandemic, the FCC’s $7.171 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program, authorized by Congress in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, provided support for schools and libraries that included funds for equipping school buses with Wi-Fi connections.

After the public health emergency expired, the Democractic-majority FCC board approved the use of E-Rate funds to equip school buses for online access.That represented an expansion of boundaries for the long-standing E-Rate program, which was authorized by Congress as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and created by the FCC in 1997.

The more recent expansion has opened new avenues of support for school districts across the country. In the 2024 fiscal year, the FCC received 405 requests for school bus Wi-Fi equipment and services totaling more than $19 million, according to figures reported by the Universal Service Administrative Company, the entity created by FCC to administer the USF and at the heart of the current legal case in front of the Supreme Court.

Awards come in the form of discounts rather than grants. For school districts, this can mean discounts of 20 to 90 percent on the costs of equipment and required fees, with the greater percentages targeted to districts serving economically disadvantaged areas.

While funding for Wi-Fi on buses represents only a small portion of overall USF funds, it has provided welcome support for a practice that some feel can be a boon to student success.

“Wi-Fi-equipped buses turn travel time into productive learning time, helping students complete homework and extend learning beyond school walls,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN, short for the Consortium for School Networking. “Our members have witnessed the benefits of  mobile broadband access during bus rides in diverse communities across the country, from California to Alabama.”

He pointed out that in a digital society, ensuring universal internet access is vital. “Wi-Fi on school buses is one important tool to help close the digital divide,” added Krueger, who addressed STN EXPO West attendees on the topic last summer.

That has been the case for Farmington Municipal Schools in New Mexico, where several different funding sources have been supplemented by the federal funds. The school district first deployed wireless routers in nine buses and then, with satisfactory results, expanded
to its entire 90-bus fleet. The district used Title 1 funds, then federal Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief funds, and most recently E-Rate funds to fund the expansion.

“We’ve received a lot of compliments from parents who tell us they’re happy when their children are home and have already completed their homework,” said Billy Huish, transportation supervisor.

Farmington covers 808 square miles and services 20 campuses. More than 6,500 of the district’s 11,000 students use school bus transportation every day. Some students face a 30- to 45-minute drive to and from their schools, while others live as far as two hours away. For after-school sports, it sometimes takes three hours to get to games. Given all that time in transit, it makes good sense to provide online access to middle and high school students with MacBooks and elementary students with iPads.

“We consider it critical to provide students wireless internet access on school buses,” Huish said. “Our students are not getting out of school and just riding home. They’re getting on the bus and continuing to learn and get their work done.”

At Henrico County Public Schools in the Richmond, Virginia area, 50 of the district’s 606 buses are equipped to provide Wi-Fi. Director of Pupil Transportation Jim Ellis said that initially, obtaining the equipment was not a priority from his viewpoint, with the impetus coming from district IT staff, which wanted to take advantage of E-Rate funds. But Ellis has been pleased by the results.

“It’s turned out better than I expected,” he said. “I’ve been surprised to see the number of logins.” Ellis added that when it comes to his fleet’s overall needs, an investment in Wi-Fi only makes sense for a limited number of buses.

“We have it on our buses that are having the longest runs,” Ellis noted. “That involves transporting kids to and from specialty centers, so they’re on the bus a little longer than everybody else.”

Complex Issue
Although advocates of funding bus-based Wi-Fi may feel its value is a no-brainer, others have voiced serious concerns. Rather than viewing online access for students through an educational lens, opponents, including prominent Republican politicians, see it as a threat. They argue not only that they believe this an unconstitutional use of federal funds, but access to online content raises red flags. Opponents claim that, at best, internet access will simply allow students to waste time rather than to complete school assignments. What’s even more problematic, they say, is the likelihood that children will gain access to all the unhealthy content the internet has to offer, from inappropriate web content to an avenue
for bullying.

To address such concerns, providers of broadband service offer filters that limit access to restricted content in conjunction with the school district network. This solution hasn’t gained acceptance with opponents, however, who believe children are adept at getting around such barriers.

In addition to the battle in the courts, a separate concern is that the FCC may remove school-bus-based Wi-Fi from the E-rate Eligible Services List. That’s a definite possibility given previous opposition voiced by new Republican FCC commissioners who now make up the board majority and could attempt to reverse the approval under the Learning WIthout Limits initiative.

“We anticipate that as soon as the FCC has five commissioners, the chairman will move to eliminate this flexibility,” said Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director, advocacy and governance for AASA, the School Superintendents Association. This doesn’t mean Wi-Fi would be prohibited on school buses, but an important funding stream could disappear.

“If you pay for it, you’ll be able to have Wi-Fi,” Ellerson Ng explained. “But you’ll need to use all local dollars without any federal support.”

CoSN’s Krueger agreed that removing school bus Wi-Fi and mobile hotspots as eligible services would hamper a useful tool that’s a key part of some districts’ connectivity efforts for students. If that happens, he said his organization urges school transportation leaders to file comments with the FCC opposing the change and highlighting the educational and behavioral benefits of Wi-Fi on school buses.

Krueger said he also feels that if the U.S. Supreme Court rules against the current system, the E-rate program is unlikely to be eliminated outright.

“Instead, Congress will most likely step in to modernize the funding structure through new legislation,” he noted. “Members of both parties strongly support the Universal Service Fund, which not only helps schools and libraries through E-Rate but also homes and businesses in sparsely populated rural areas, rural health clinics and very low-income households.”

He added that such a decision would require a significant policy debate that could directly affect funding for E-Rate-eligible services, including Wi-Fi on school buses.

“School transportation leaders should consider adding their voice to the debate if the Supreme Court upholds the 5th Circuit’s decision undermining the program,” Krueger said.

Moving Ahead
Given the uncertainty of future funding, transportation leaders face options going forward. For those who see value in the potential offered by school bus Wi-Fi, one strategy might be to move as quickly as possible to qualify while funds are still available.

Ellerson Ng at AASA pointed out that even if Wi-Fi is ruled ineligible for future support, it’s possible funds would still be in the pipeline for the coming school year before a full cutoff could be implemented, potentially for the 2026-2027 school year.

Another approach would be to proceed entirely with local funding. That of course could make Wi-Fi on school buses a harder sell when competing with the many budget demands faced by every school district. Should funding be possible, though, the benefits seem obvious.

“If funding is available, school districts should apply for it to enhance student learning by making school buses an extension of the classroom,” Huish advised.

Editor’s Note: As reprinted in the May 2025 issue of School Transportation News.

Related: (Recorded Webinar) How to Fund & Implement School Bus WiFi
Related: A Supreme (Court) Debate Impacting Internet on School Buses?
Related: Benefits of School Bus Wi-Fi Discussed at STN EXPO
Related: Webinar Addresses School Bus Wi-Fi Myths, E-Rate Funding

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — What was considered “plug and play” solution years ago, that being fleet electrification, is far more complicated. OEMs, vendors and transportation leaders are highlighting the continued challenges but also the benefits of electric school buses while also promoting collaboration as the industry enters uncharted territory. But continued funding is necessary.

Brad Beauchamp, EV product segment leader for Blue Bird, moderated a related session, “School Bus Sector: Rolling out the New Generation of School Buses,” on April 30 at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo that provided the perspectives of two student transporters, a leader of electrification at the nation’s largest school bus contractor, a mechanical engineer, and a smart charging technology provider.

Mike Bullman, director of transportation for the South Carolina Department of Education. described the uniqueness of The Palmetto State, as the DOE owns and maintains all 5,600-plus school buses. Bullman noted the fleet fuel makeup is currently 88 percent diesel, 10 percent propane, and three-and-a-half percent electric. He noted that his operation has taken a multi-pronged approach to alternative fuels with a focus on advancing technology.

He added that the South Carolina state specifications committee will be convening in the this summer, and gasoline will be on the agenda as well. “We feel that fleet diversity is very important as we certainly move into the future,” he said.

The South Carolina fleet travels 78 million miles a year and supports 77 public school districts. Those 78 million miles serve 365,000 students a day using about nine or 10 million gallons of diesel fuel annually and 1.2 million gallons of propane. There are 42 statewide school bus maintenance facilities and a staff of about 375 employees, with an annual budget of $170 million.

“It’s quite a large endeavor,” Bullman shared.

In addition to fuels, Bullman is focused on technology adoption. “We take a safety-first approach, but we want to make sure that technology is in there,” he said, adding that buses have tire pressure monitoring systems, stability control, camera systems, stop arm cameras, student management, GPS tracking. “All of that is part of this comprehensive multi-prong approach,” he added.

He noted that preventative and predictive maintenance are also important. Bullman and his team in South Carolina lead the inspection program offered at STN EXPO conferences.

Bullman’s department also has a statewide routing program and a comprehensive driver training program. “Additional investments in charging and fueling infrastructure is on our list and important to us, long cycle cost analysis for vehicle procurement, and staff training,” he said.

He added that South Carolina will continue to seek additional funding sources, noting that was the main driver for purchasing electric vehicles. In 2021, the state received $1.3 million in grant money to purchase four electric school busses and in 2022 received $6.6 million to purchase 16 EVs and then in 2024 they got another $6.9 million to purchase another 20.

He added that with the EVs, they are seeing cost savings with maintenance and operating costs, it’s the initial cost gap that needs to be bridged. “I personally and professionally believe that the school bus space is an ideal space for an electric vehicle,” he said. “It just fits. You’ve got long dwell times. You’ve got repeatable routes. Certainly, 80 to 90 percent of the routes in South Carolina can be covered quite comfortably with an EV bus.”

Bullman cited the current challenge is uncertainty surrounding federal funding for ESBs — which many in the industry would agree with. He noted that without grants, South Carolina would not have been able to purchase electric, citing the cost gap with diesel. He noted that data collecting will be key and help to convince naysayers that this is the right technology moving forward.

Sam Hill-Cristol, director of strategy and business development for The Mobility House, noted that V2G technology is a way to offset some of those costs. “We’re optimistic about the contributions that V2G revenues can make in the total cost of ownership calculation,” he said.

He noted that while there are ongoing V2G projects across the U.S., it is currently not scalable. He expects V2G to gain more popularity in the years to come.

Meanwhile, Lauren Lynch, senior mechanical engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), noted that the agency focuses on energy systems research and development with an eye on data collection. She said NREL provides data to fleets of school buses to enable fleet managers who are adopting the technologies to better understand their use and performance.

She said the fully funded program is a free service to fleets right now. Going forward, she explained that NREL will provide buses with a data logger that works in conjunction with telematics systems, so it won’t interfere with other data logging taking place on the bus. The data is transferred to NREL, who stores the data and conducts an analysis. Currently, they are working with seven different fleets and aim to collect data for at least 30 days. NREL is also hoping to capture a year after year performance and is coming up on year two working with Beaverton School District near Portland, Oregon.

“It’s been exciting, and we’re expanding our analysis to include a maintenance and cost study,” she shared. “We want to ensure that we provide a value back to the fleets. So, as part of our overall objective, we not only want to provide this analysis to the fleets, where we highlight key insights or maybe identify some areas of opportunity, but we also hope to utilize the data as an aggregated study for the vocation, utilize the data and other tools and models to inform driver developments or address any barriers within the industry.”

She explained that the data shows electric buses are more efficient than other powertrains. They do, she confirmed, have higher capital costs but have resulted in an overall lower dollar-per-mile cost when operating the same routes.

“We’re looking at all powertrains within the fleet to understand the performance of each and identifying areas of opportunity and what’s going well,” she explained, adding that the end-goal is to make the electric school bus data publicly available via the online tool FleetREDI. Currently, the website has data on heavy- and medium-duty findings.

San Marcos Unified School District in California also received about $30 million in grant funds for infrastructure and school buses. “It was very overwhelming,” Executive Director of Transportation Mike Sawyer said.

He noted that the district had 84 old diesel buses, so he started applying for grants — one of them being the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program grant in California and the Zero Emission School Bus and Infrastructure Program — and the money kept flowing.

To help him navigate all the funding, he said he reached out to partners, including Engie, which helped San Marcos find inefficiencies in charging infrastructure. Engie helped San Marcos create “one of the biggest” charging infrastructure bus yards. Phase one was completed with 40 EV chargers, six of which are 120 kW, the remainder being 30 kW chargers. Phase two, which is about to break ground, will bring the district to a total of 75 chargers.

The location holds about one megawatt of solar and 1.5 megawatts of battery storage, and it includes a 60kW diesel generator to serve as backup if the power goes out. Sawyer noted SMUSD currently has 33 electric buses on the road.

Providing a Service

Meanwhile, First Student operates over 45,000 school buses across 43 states and eight Canadian provinces. Of those, 450 are electric vehicles.

“EVs, they are providing not only cleaner and quieter rides to school, but these kids are arriving to school calmer,” said Jennifer Harp, the contractor’s vice president of the electric vehicles program, discussing a recent project in rural Westville, Illinois that electrified its entire fleet of 17 school buses with help from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean School Bus Program, IRA tax credits, and the Illinois Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust program.

“They had some limited resources,” she said, adding that they were on a lease property and needed an infrastructure solution that would avoid high costs.

She added the company integrated its First Charge, a trenchless, flexible and quick-to-deploy. purpose-built charging hub with that removes the barrier of having to trench locations.

Harp also noted First Student currently deploys 14 First Charge units. It took about nine months to deploy the one operating in Westville.

“If we want to follow Westville’s playbook for electrification success, we really need to remember that continued success in this space requires continued funding incentives from all of our government sectors,” she said. “It also requires that we minimize costly infrastructure as much as possible. Requires partnerships and a willingness to share those learnings. …With the right strategy and infrastructure, school bus electrification is not only possible, it is absolutely practical.”

Related: (STN Podcast E257) The Paths Forward: AI, Clean Energy, Manufacturing Discussed at ACT Expo
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She noted the conversations on battery-electric adoption at ACT Expo have evolved from the initial belief that it could be a plug-and-play option. “If you’ve been here long enough, you know that it’s not that simple,” she shared. “Fleet electrification takes partnerships, very strong partnerships, high increased project coordination, industry standardization, and, above all else, patience.”

Meanwhile, The Mobility House provides smart charging to fleets to over 2,500 sites globally, 100 of which are location in North America. Hill-Cristol shared that the grand vision is to achieve “zero emission transportation at zero cost,” he said. “We think we can get there in some cases, through the technology that we provide.”

He explained that vehicle grid integration is an umbrella term The Mobility House uses to talk about a suite of use cases that are becoming more common with the next-generation electric school bus projects.

“The days of going to the utility, getting a totally new service, 100 percent paid for, putting in enough capacity for every charger to be on at once, and then just turning it on and not worrying, I think those days are pretty much behind us,” he said, adding that now customers are looking for ways to solve challenges, like vehicle-to-grid, charging off peak and backup power integration.

Hill-Cristol also mentioned off-grid supplemental solutions, which consists of using solar storage or a backup generator to help with capacity challenges and the delay in receiving chargers. All of this is also provided by The Mobility House.

He elaborated that the off-grid solutions can be either a long-term or temporary solution. For instance, some districts are using it as a bridge as they wait for their infrastructure, whereas some districts can solely use it as a charge management system. Other use cases include a micro-gird if districts need additional power on site.

“Depending on where you fall on that spectrum, and the investment that you’re making, I think that would lead you to the conclusion of whether this is a two-to-five-year solution or whether this is going to be something that sticks around,” he said. “Because with the right combination of technologies, you’re also going to get operational cost saving.”

The post Funding, Data and Resiliency Needed for Electric School Bus Success appeared first on School Transportation News.