Currently, attendance issues are prevalent in academic settings. When students do not attend school, it has an effect on their education and on the community at large. This study looked at the issue of truancy at the Early Years level and focused on studying one possible solution: the Walking School Bus Program. In this program two Community Outreach Workers were hired to walk students with attendance issues to school on a daily basis. A qualitative study was completed to obtain the perspectives of key individuals involved in the Walking School Bus program.

Currently, attendance issues are prevalent in academic settings. When students do not attend school, it has an effect on their education and on the community at large. This study looked at the issue of truancy at the Early Years level and focused on studying one possible solution: the Walking School Bus Program. In this program two Community Outreach Workers were hired to walk students with attendance issues to school on a daily basis. A qualitative study was completed to obtain the perspectives of key individuals involved in the Walking School Bus program.

In this article, we study the school bus routing and scheduling problem with transfers arising in the field of nonperiodic public transportation systems. It deals with the transportation of pupils from home to their school in the morning taking the possibility that pupils may change buses into account. Allowing transfers has several consequences. On the one hand, it allows more flexibility in the bus network structure and can, therefore, help to reduce operating costs. On the other hand, transfers have an impact on the service level: the perceived service quality is lower due to the existence of transfers; however, at the same time, user ride times may be reduced and, thus, transfers may also have a positive impact on service quality. The main objective is the minimization of the total operating costs. We develop a heuristic solution framework to solve this problem and compare it with two solution concepts that do not consider transfers. The impact of transfers on the service level in terms of time loss (or user ride time) and the number of transfers is analyzed. Our results show that allowing transfers reduces total operating costs significantly while average and maximum user ride times are comparable to solutions without transfers. (authors' abstract)

This dissertation deals with the protocol and procedures related to students’ safety and discipline while on a school bus as experienced by school bus drivers’ and school administrators’ experiences as a guide for changes to the existing programs. The following was the overarching research question that guided the study: How do school bus drivers and school administrators describe their reflective experiences related to bus driver training and protocol and procedures associated with student safety and discipline? A qualitative research design was selected for the study. A case study approach was used to collect and analyze data for the study. Participants for the study included 30 bus drivers and 4 school administrators from 2 school districts. To collect data for the study, interviews were conducted through the use of focus groups. The analysis of the data for the study yielded emergent themes in response to the secondary research questions. The emergent themes include ongoing professional development, addition of cameras and seat belts, bus monitors, creation of a handbook for school bus drivers and riders, and seating charts. Recommendations are presented for policy and protocol changes.

It is illegal to pass a stopped school bus when the vehicle's stop-arm is extended and the red lights are flashing. Public opinion on this issue is very clear. A random phone survey of the public conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that more than 90 percent of respondents rated "passing a school bus that has its red lights flashing and the stop arm in full view" as a somewhat or extremely dangerous driving behavior (Boyle, Dienstfrey, and Sothoron, 1998). Despite this public opinion, there is evidence that the number of vehicles that illegally pass school buses each day is substantial. Based on data collected throughout the state of Illinois, the Illinois Department of Transportation (1996) estimated that more than 10,000 vehicles illegally pass school buses every day. Similar findings were reported in Florida (Center for Urban Transportation Research, 1996). To address this problem, NHTSA sponsored a research effort aimed at developing an automated system for detecting and recording the license plates of vehicles as well as their drivers who illegally pass school buses. The overall objective of this research was to develop a prototype system that would automatically detect and record vehicles that illegally pass school buses (i.e., bus' stop-arm is extended and lights are flashing). Based on the results of technical, administrative, and legal feasibility analyses, system specifications were developed and a prototype unit was built. The prototype system was then field-tested in a variety of real-world conditions in both a controlled setting and on an actual school bus route. The results of the field test proved the prototype system to be comparable with other automated enforcement systems. Testing showed that recorded images were more identifiable when the violation occurred in the lane next to the school bus. In addition, frontal facial recordings were found to be 1.5 times more useful then profile recordings. It must be stressed that the purpose of the field test was to gather data that could be used in support of design recommendations and changes for the next generation of the system. / Master of Science

xiv, 104 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Student safety on school property continues to be a priority for educators. Pediatric research reveals that student injuries sustained while riding the school bus may be more than three times the number actually reported by transportation departments. These studies further indicate that a major factor contributing to injuries is inappropriate student behavior while riding a school bus. This dissertation involved the creation of a behavior management program for students who ride the school bus. The behavior management program (Bus PBS) was derived from the established and well researched school-based universal prevention, Positive Behavior Support (PBS). The core features of the Bus PBS program included, (1) active support and involvement by the School Administrator and the Transportation Director, (2) school-wide expectations reworded for use on the school bus, (3) students received direct instruction regarding behavioral expectations on the school bus, (4) drivers received a 1.5 hour training in the classroom and 3 days of on-board coaching during the intervention phase, and (5) drivers were encouraged to greet students by name as they entered the bus, provide formal rewards to recognize correct student behavior, and deliver a continuum of clear consequences for student problem behavior. The study was conducted with three typical school buses in a moderate-sized West Coast city. The research question under consideration asked if the presence of Bus PBS was functionally related to student behavior on the school bus. Using a single subject multiple baseline design across three buses, direct observation data were collected on (a) fidelity of bus driver implementation of the program and (b) student problem behavior. Results indicated that bus drivers were able to implement the intervention with moderate to high fidelity, and implementation of Bus PBS was functionally related to improved student behavior. Student problem behavior on the school bus during the Bus PBS program was 37% lower than baseline levels. Discussion is provided about the clinical and research implications of the results. / Advisers: Horner, Robert H., Merrell, Kenneth W.

The purpose of this study was first to determine the satisfaction level of bus drivers pertaining to school building administration, transportation department, and student behaviors, and second to identify the common behavior management strategies used by bus driver in a particular school system in east Tennessee. I also compared the common behavior management strategies used by school bus drivers who are also employed by the school system in some position in addition to this vocation with school bus drivers who are not employed by the school system other than driving the school bus. I also compared behavior management strategies in the following categories: age, years of experience, and gender. For this quantitative element of the study, I requested bus drivers who met the criteria complete an anonymous survey. The survey had 20 items that focus on the bus drivers' satisfaction in areas of school building administration, transportation department, and student behavior. Bus drivers responded to each item by selecting responses on a 5-point scale from extremely dissatisfied to extremely satisfied, with neutral being the middle point. A single sample t-test was conducted and the results showed bus drivers were satisfied to a significant extent with school building administration and transportation department, while bus drivers were neither satisfied or dissatisfied with student behavior. Bus drivers also ranked their top five behavior management strategies. Results were categorized by age, years of experience, gender, and whether they were employed by the school system in another position. The overall top five behavior management strategies by bus drivers were 1) Assigning a student to a particular seat, 2) Reporting students to school building administration, 3) Moving a student to a particular seat during the bus route, 4) Use of video surveillance, and 5) Discussing a student's behavior with a parent or guardian. I also interviewed 10 school building administrators in the same school system for their perspective on student behavior management strategies recommended for bus drivers to use on school buses and also their perspective on the impact student behavior on a school bus has on a student at school. Responses were also solicited from school building administrators of their perspective of driver management practices that seem most and least conducive to managing and preventing behaviors on buses. I recorded the responses given to these questions and listed the responses along with any additional comments from administrators. Most of the responses correspond with the responses bus drivers gave in their interviews. Half of the administrators stated school buses should be operated like a classroom with rules and consequences.

Over the last 40 years, there has been a dramatic increase nationwide in the rate of children being driven to school in a private vehicle in the U.S., exacerbating problems from traffic congestion to childhood obesity. While many studies have focused on walking and cycling for the trip to school, few explore parental decision making and the interaction between all travel modes. This study conducts a survey of parents of children attending six elementary schools in San Luis Obispo regarding their children’s travel to school. It explores factors in mode choice, establishes local travel patterns for children, and describes parents’ decision making and the interaction between driving and alternative modes: walking, cycling, school bus, and public transit. An association is found between child gender and parental permission for walking/cycling and riding public transit without adult supervision. An association is also found between parents’ own activity, walking/cycling and riding public transit, and their likelihood to encourage their children to use these modes. Based on survey findings, the study outlines strategy alternatives and recommends implementing free transit days for families, organizing a community safety audit for transit settings, forming a partnership between San Luis Coastal Unified School District and the City of San Luis Obispo to divert demand for school bus transportation to other alternative modes, and organizing a walking school bus.

<p>School bus routing and scheduling are among the major problems because school bus transportation needs to be safe, reliable and efficient. Hence, the research question for this thesis is to answer how to transport students in the safest, most economical and convenient manner. The objective of this thesis is to create a GIS based school transport management system which helps in bus-stop allocation, design fastest and safest bus routes with AVL facility. This thesis also aims to investigate how a school transportation management system may improve the transportation security. The result from this study has helped to develop a school bus routing and scheduling prototype model for Sujatha High School, Hyderabad. This prototype model will help the school transportation management to design shortest and fastest school bus routes and they can also allocate bus stops, which will help them in selecting the pick-up stops for the students and staff, according to their concentration in the areas. This thesis has also, through literature study, investigated how a school transport management system can improve the transportation security. For the time being, there is a general belief that ICT contributes to improving the security, although a quantification of such improvements are lacking. The user interface application has been developed by using VBA and ArcGIS 9.1 Network Analyst provided by Environmental Science Research Institute and it has been evaluated by GIS users.</p>

In this study, perceived comfort and discomfort regarding school busses is assessed with the main focus on students. A total of 149 students and 38 drivers from a private school in Ankara was chosen participated in the study. Two different surveys were conducted on students and drivers separately, in order to assess perceived comfort and discomfort and suitability of the seat design features. Using SPSS Software to analyze the data, factors contributing to safety, driver distraction, perceived discomfort and perceived comfort were investigated. Bus seat comfort is found to be the most influential factor on the general assessment of bus comfort. Although no evidence of significant discomfort related to specific body parts such as neck, shoulders, back, thigh or legs is found, in-depth analysis revealed that seat features such as seat pan cushion firmness or armrest height are in correlation with seat comfort.