Efficient School Buses

[NiHaoMike]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Actually, anything to do with school buses is ultimately a political issue.

For those of you who might be too young to realize it, back in the late '60s the powers of authority decided that racial integration needed to be achieved through mandatory school busing. It was considered of such magnitude and high priority that school buses were given legal exemption from pollution controls.

Now it strikes me as odd that today, decades later, politically (environmentally?) correct parents put their kids on school buses that obviously reek of exhaust fumes, and no one notices - or cares. If you've ever had to ride in one (or even drive following one) you'd wonder how the kids stand it. But they only are the 'smallest pawns in the game of life', and they can't complain, can they?

The sacrosanct yellow school bus is the American version of a 'sacred cow' on wheels. And a big source of (legally permissible) air pollution.

I remember back in high school when one of my classes was actually located off campus and therefore had to be accessed by bus. There's only one other student at that campus who signed up for that class and they still used a big bus. (Why not one of the smaller ones?) Probably got something like 3MPG or less.

But now, in college, a lot of the buses are hybrids. Don't know too much about the details except the distinctive "hybrid squeal" is clearly audible when accelerating or regenerating. And there will often be a bump during braking when the regen switches off...

[Frank Lee]

Ohhhh.... if we go outside the scope of just the busses themselves, we get into the retarded mandates that guide the construction of new schools.

In my town they shuttered quite a few "neighborhood" schools, where many of the kids could walk/bike there, in favor of a big new colossus way out on the edge of town where NOBODY is going to walk to it. Now it's ALL bussing, and longer commutes for almost ALL staff. Brilliant, eh?

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Christ

That can't be entirely true... at least not anymore. Every district I've been to school in that I can actually remember, the bus ride was optional. Here in Troy, I lived approx 10 miles from the school. If I felt perky enough, I'd get up early and bike to school. Several times, I actually got up and walked to school. 10 miles of walking takes about 2.5 hours at a decent pace. At 5 AM, you're walking at a decent pace in PA's north east country. Or you're cold. Either way.

Heh heh, you know that walkers are the extreme minority any more, especially for any real distance. Most people will drive two blocks now... am I right?

[gasstingy]

In my small town, we have two types of school busses. The first is the traditional kind that my kids nicknamed a "cheese wagon" after the Velveeta cheese container. The second kind looks like a two city-block long string of Tahoes / Excursions and seats maybe two kids each. Parents wait in a really long line to drop off their kids. The waste of it aggravates me.

The lesson it teaches the kids isn't too good either.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Christ

That can't be entirely true... at least not anymore. Every district I've been to school in that I can actually remember, the bus ride was optional. Here in Troy, I lived approx 10 miles from the school. If I felt perky enough, I'd get up early and bike to school. Several times, I actually got up and walked to school. 10 miles of walking takes about 2.5 hours at a decent pace. At 5 AM, you're walking at a decent pace in PA's north east country. Or you're cold. Either way.

I'm not saying that mandatory busing still exists (universally). But that was why buses were given exemption from the pollution controls that other vehicles were required to have. As far as I know they are still exempt, because their exhaust is noticeably noxious.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Ohhhh.... if we go outside the scope of just the busses themselves, we get into the retarded mandates that guide the construction of new schools.

In my town they shuttered quite a few "neighborhood" schools, where many of the kids could walk/bike there, in favor of a big new colossus way out on the edge of town where NOBODY is going to walk to it. Now it's ALL bussing, and longer commutes for almost ALL staff. Brilliant, eh?

Probably somebody on the school board has a brother in law who will have a nice contract for his fleet of school buses.

[wagonman76]

Hybrid school bus makes a lot of sense.

When I was in school, if you lived on the other side of main street (this town was population 420) they made you ride the bus to the other side supposedly for liability reasons. Didn't matter that it was no busier than any other street in town. And didn't matter that they sent the kids walking across main street and back on their own every day for band class anyway.

They had funny rules. Like you couldn't mix your mashed potatoes and gravy because one kid (must have been an important kid who was related to half the school staff) thought it looked disgusting.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by fud2468

Maybe garbage trucks could benefit too.
In cities, with stops 50-100 feet apart, engines rev up for a few seconds, then brakes are jammed on for the next stop. Regenerative braking seems like a no-brainer.

And then rev up the engine while sitting so the hydraulic accessories move faster.

In my neighborhood, they still drive the old 60's-era bread-loaf-shaped Crowns, and they put out massive amounts of black smoke. Despite continuing to drive these decrepit cans, they charge $150/year/student for a bus pass.

[TheEnemy]

Originally Posted by Christ

That can't be entirely true... at least not anymore. Every district I've been to school in that I can actually remember, the bus ride was optional. Here in Troy, I lived approx 10 miles from the school. If I felt perky enough, I'd get up early and bike to school. Several times, I actually got up and walked to school. 10 miles of walking takes about 2.5 hours at a decent pace. At 5 AM, you're walking at a decent pace in PA's north east country. Or you're cold. Either way.

I used to ride 6 miles to school, and it was faster than taking the bus.

First on-Last off bus took an hour, riding only about 20 min.