School Bus Fleet, October 2018

St Lucie Trains on Energy Bus PORT ST LUCIE Fla Some 500 transportation employees prepared to take students back to school at St Lucie Public Schools annual in service training in August The training program was held on Aug 7 and 8 at the Port St Lucie Civic Center The theme of this years in service was Hop on the Energy Bus inspired by the Jon Gordon book The Energy Bus The districts school bus drivers and other transportation team members heard a keynote address by Julie Nee a trainer with The Jon Gordon Companies Nee elaborated on the books subtitle 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life Work and Team With Positive Energy The districts in service event was sponsored in part by Matthews Buses Florida and Seon Design St Lucie Public Schools is ranked No 61 on the Top 100 with 316 route buses 35 OCTOBER 2018 SCHOOL BUS FLEET There has been public awareness of illegal passing because we have used the news media The media will cover it for us and we get the word out for no cost Fraley said Additionally members of the community have provided feedback on route changes many of which the department ended up making The districts new buses will also feature an AngelTrax 12 camera system a change from their eight camera system Both systems cover the interior and exterior of the bus but the new one also includes a camera on the right side of the bus Fraley said he hopes the switch will help cut down on right side passes Statistically the right side of the bus is being passed more and more he added The districts second demonstration also covered rules that motorists must follow for stopping for school buses according to WOWK TV Drivers reminded students to be at the bus stop on time and to avoid wearing earbuds when getting on and off the bus to ensure they are aware of their surroundings Additionally parents were advised to supervise their children at bus stops whenever possible Kanawha County Schools is ranked No 100 on the Top 100 School District Fleets list with 162 route buses After Demise of Dallas County Schools Local Districts Launch New School Bus Operations By Thomas McMahon DALLAS School buses are back on the road here but they no longer bear the name of Dallas County Schools formerly the regions key pupil transportation provider School districts in the Dallas area have had to come up with new transportation plans since residents voted last November to dissolve Dallas County Schools In recent years the intermediate agency operated about 1500 school buses for a dozen districts in north Texas transporting around 70000 students daily But the agency racked up debt and became embroiled in a stop arm camera controversy In April Dallas County Schools former superintendent Rick Sorrells pleaded guilty to taking more than 3 million in bribes and kickbacks from camera supplier Force Multiplier Solutions After voters abolished Dallas County Schools a dissolution committee was formed to distribute the agencys assets and to oversee transportation through July 31 This task has now been completed and operations have been discontinued the dissolution committee said in a message posted on the former Dallas County Schools website With a new school year starting up in August some Dallas area school districts are now running their own school bus operations while others have outsourced the service to a private contractor Dallas Independent School District ISD is among those that brought their transportation in house The initiative required hiring some 1200 transportation employees in six months When school started on Aug 20 Dallas ISD ranked No 21 on the Top 100 list put 812 school buses into daily route operation to transport 40000 students Just north of Dallas Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD is another former customer of Dallas County Schools that transitioned to its own transportation service Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD reported recently that it had purchased 10 new school buses for the 2018 19 school year which began on Aug 20 Lancaster ISD and Richardson ISD have also brought their school bus services in house Meanwhile some Dallas area school districts opted to continue outsourcing transportation of their students Former Dallas County Schools customers Cedar Hill ISD and DeSoto ISD partnering as the South Dallas County Transportation Cooperative selected First Student as their new transportation provider First Student is now running all school bus services for the cooperative serving about 3200 students Cedar Hill ISD started school on Aug 15 and DeSoto ISD began on Aug 20 We trust First Student can leverage the best practices technologies and processes needed to deliver quality consistent service to our families Kellie Spencer deputy superintendent of Cedar Hill ISD said in a press release First Student also won a five year contract to provide transportation for Irving ISD another former customer of Dallas County Schools Keynote speaker Julie Nee addresses school transportation staff at St Lucie Public Schools annual in service training