THE LIBRARIES THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIAiT3 A Study of School Transportation In Georgia Brief Summary Program of Educational Development for Georgia general library MAY 4 ibtii UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA ISSUED BY EDUCATION PANEL Agricultural and Industrial Development Board of Georgia Athens GeorgiaAGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT BOARD OF GEORGIA Blanton Fortson Chairman L Vaughan Howard Executive Director Name of Member Address Ivan AllenAtlanta T F AbercrombieAtlanta Charles L BowenMacon W N BanksGrantville Cason J CallawayHamilton MDCollinsAtlanta Ryburn G ClayAtlanta Mrs Frank C DavidColumbus Blanton FortsonAthens Charles B GramlingAtlanta Robert W GrovesSavannah Alfred W JonesSea Island TomLinderAtlanta Wiley L MooreAtlanta Walter R McDonaldAtlanta Henry McIntoshAlbany W H McNaughtonCartersville J L PilcherMeigs Robert StricklandAtlanta MKing TuckerWaynesboro Wilson WilliamsAtlanta EDUCATION BULLETIN No 3 JANUARY 1945 10 c 5 E EDUCATION PANEL M D Collins ChairmanAtlanta Mrs Frank C DavidColumbus Wilson Williams Athens O C Aderhold DirectorAthens o c 3 CD o IA a E 3 5 u o fc o E S o u UJ a z Of GO cn Z o By J E Greene Claude Purcell and O C Aderhold W O Hampton S P Clemons W A Stumpf C A Williams Department of Public Safety Preston Weeks Department of Public Safety c Z CO a z O DO Introduction The study summarized in the following pages was made by the Education Panel of the Agricultural and Industrial Development Board It was made as a result of requests from the county superintendents of schools boards of edu cation and school patrons who have long recognized the need for a factual appraisal of present conditions and practices as a basis for determining ways of improving the safety the con venience and the economy of pupil transportation The study was plartned by the staff of the Panel and an AllState Com mittee of one county superintendent of schools from each congressional district and a member from the Stateatlarge The personnel of the AllState Committee who participated in the study are listed below Name Position W E McElveenCoSS Percy P JonesCo S S Grady McKinneyCo S S N A RogersCoSS C J HicksCoSS C A ShealeyCoSS J J MedlinCo S S R E HoodCo S S Grady JarrardCo S S Mason WilliamsCo S S P H DeBeaugrineCo S S L O RogersChairman Address Con Dist Statesboro First ColquittSecond Hawkinsville Third Franklin Fourth Conyers Fifth Sandersville Sixth Rome Seventh Brunswick Eighth Gainesville Ninth Monroe Tenth Warrenton Tenth Moultrie StateatLarge Not without reason pupil transportation has been referred to frequently as the stepchild of the school program Pro grams of pupil transportation developed in Georgia without much conscious planning or serious attention As a result the area of pupil transportation provides some of the most complex and difficult problems that confront public edu cation in Georgia The latest available data indicate that 2 879 school buses transport 177734 children to and from school daily or an average of 62 children per bus This transportation service cost approximately 3000000 in 1944 The management and responsibility for school transporta 5tion varies greatly within the State and among the various counties In some counties the management and responsibility for pupil transportation has been left almost entirely to the local district trustees which often results in duplication of routing within the county and other evidences of inefficient operation However in other counties the board of educa tion has inaugurated a countywide program of transporta tion which meets welldefined minimum standards for equip ment operation maintenance drivers records and reports Faulty management of transportation in many rural counties has imposed a financial burden which threatens to deplete their already meager financial resources and to prevent the proper development of their alltoolimited instructional pro grams During recent years there has been a consistent tendency for county superintendents of schools to request more financial aid for transportation purposes and more supervisory assist ance from the State Department of Education in planning for greater safety convenience and economy in pupil trans portation Under present legislation neither the State Board of Education nor the State Department of Public Safety has authority to prescribe minimum standards for the construction and operation of school buses despite the fact that many county school officials have requested the State Department of Education to prescribe such minimum standards Sources of Information The summary statements which comprise the body of this report are based on facts obtained from one or more of the following sources a Detailed information concerning 179 specific individual buses in use during the year 194344 representing a weighted ran dom sample of all publicly and privately owned buses op erating during that year b School bus inspection records on 2242 buses inspected by the State Patrol in 1943 or approximately 78 percent of all buses operating during that yearc State Department of Public Safety records on school bus accidents in 1943 and 1944 d Reports from State Departments of Education the U S Office of Education and certain published and unpublished literature on pupil transportation Data from the abovenamed sources were subjected to sta tistical treatment and other types of careful analyses The statements which follow are presented as a highly condensed summary of some of the most important findings A more detailed report is available to interested persons For the con venience of the reader the summarized findings are arranged under the following topical headings 1 Safety 2 Pupil Health and Convenience 3 Factors Related to Cost and 4 Conclusions and Recommendations Safety That school bus equipment in Georgia is seriously defective with respect to many features of bus construction and opera tion is evidenced by the following findings a Only three out of four school buses have allsteel bodies b One out of five school buses does not have safety glass in the windshield and one out of three buses does not have safety glass in windows and doors c One out of twenty school buses does not have rear emergen cy doors and an additional 10 percent of buses have rear emergency doors that do not meet safety standards d One out of eleven buses lacks a windshield wiper and one out of eight additional buses has a defective wiper e State Patrol school bus inspection reports reveal that lack of windshield wipers is an important contributing factor to serious accidents f Only seven out of ten school buses have either hydraulic or air brakes g One out of ten buses has defective foot brakes and three out of ten hand brakes are in a defective condition h State Patrol school bus accident reports indicate that defective brakes are a significant contributing factor to serious accidents i One out of thirteen buses has one or more defective tires j Four out of ten buses have defective exhausts and one out of seven buses releases dangerous fumes k One out of twenty buses has defective rear visibility 1 Six out of ten buses are without useful mechanical stop signal m One out of twelve buses does not meet specifications of the State law with respect to school bus signs n o P q Three out of four buses are not equipped with satisfactory firstaid kits Only one out of five buses has a fire extinguisher and one half of these are in defective condition Only one out of four buses is equipped with satisfactory flares and flags One out of six buses has one or more dangerous stops r The typical school bus in 1944 carried a passenger load at least 50 percent greater than its rated seating capacity s The State Patrol school bus accident reports reveal that many drivers of Georgia school buses lack proper qualifica tions t The recorded violations by school bus drivers include Mak ing a turn or stop without proper signals improper super vision of pupil loading and unloading reckless driving drunkenness lack of a chauffeurs license lack of a bus license etc Public Health and Convenience That as presently operated pupil transportation systems in Georgia do not provide sufficiently for the health and the convenience of pupils particularly at younger age levels is shown by the following findings a The typical child transported to and from school leaves home about 730 in the morning and returns to his home about 430 in the afternoon He spends about one hour daily on a bus 8b The typical passenger has to wait 24 minutes after bus arrival for school to open and has to wait 18 minutes after school is dismissed in order to catch a bus c It is probable that because of faulty transportation practices pupils are subjected to inconveniences and strains that seri ously interfere with their educational experiences and home duties and adjustments d It would require an additional 1968 buses to provide enough equipment so that no bus would transport more than one load of pupils to and from school daily e Only one out of six buses is equipped with a heater f The typical bus carries at least 50 percent more passengers than its rated seating capacity and many buses carry more than twice as many passengers as their rated seating capacity g One bus body out of twelve is homemade Many of these bodies lack proper emergency doors weatherproof tops windows etc Factors Related to Cost That many opportunities exist for improving the economy in the purchase and the operation of all types of school buses in Georgia is evidenced by the following findings a Variations in prices paid by different buyers for identical pieces of standard equipment eg 1942 standard chassis by a given manufacturer are often wide and indicate that in some instances public money is expended uneco nomically b There is also a wide variation in prices paid by different buyers for identical types of supplies For example certain buses regularly pay from two to three cents a gallon higher price for regular or hightest gas than do other buses in the same locality c Comparisons of prices paid for standard equipment in Geor gia and in comparable Southern States indicate that present practices of purchasing equipment in Georgia are less eco nomical than in these states For example North Carolina Alabama and Mississippi are purchasing buses comparable to those used in Georgia at prices from 200 to 500 cheaper per unit than prices paid in this State These economies are made possible through a system of central purchasing or contract pricing under State supervision 9That a vast reservoir of need is being developed for new equipment to replace outworn equipment and to supplement overused equipment and that appropriate policies for the purchase of such equipment by central purchasing or contract pricing under State supervision would greatly reduce the purchase costs of equipment are conclusions which seem war ranted by the following findings a Had they been available 336 bodies and 368 chassis would have been purchased in 1944 to replace outworn equipment b During the year 1945 there is estimated to be an additional replacement need in Georgia for 736 chassis and 512 bodies c The overall warproduction situation now makes it seem likely that replacement needs for school transportation equipment cannot possibly be met as rapidly as such needs develop Therefore it seems highly probable that by 1946 there will be an accumulated demand for as many as 1489 chassis and 1224 bodies for replacement purposes alone assuming no increase in the total number of buses required to serve present routes Conclusions and Recommendations The evidence presented in the preceding sections of this report reveals the presence of conditions that need immediate attention Some of the equipment in use is not only make shift but also hazardous to the safety and the health of school children drivers in some instances have been incompetent or criminally careless routes have been duplicated because of competition among the school districts scheduling and routing practices often have placed unnecessary strains upon the health and the convenience of passengers and costs for equipment and supplies sometimes have been excessive as com pared with the services rendered and as contrasted with cost practices in comparable states By 1946 there probably will be a need for 2000 buses to replace outworn and overused equip ment If this number of buses were bought under a system of central purchasing or contract pricing it is estimated that a potential saving of not less than 500000 could be effected 10However before school bus equipment can be purchased cooperatively through the State Supervisor of Purchasing or through a system of contract pricing it would be necessary for the State Board of Education to prescribe minimum speci fications for new bus equipment These specifications not only would serve as a basis for competitive bidding but also would tend to promote greater safety and economy in the operation of school buses At present the State Board of Education has no legal authority to prescribe regulations of the type of buses which appear to be needed In view of the findings summarized in the preceding sections of this report it is the judgment of the Education Panel of the Agricultural and Industrial Development Board that a The responsibility of providing transportation services for the schools of a county should be vested in the county board of education b In order to promote greater economy and safety in school transportation provisions should be made whereby school transportation equipment and supplies may be bought through a system of central purchasing or contact pricing c The State Board of Education should be empowered to adopt rules and regulations to provide for uniformity eco nomy and safety in the operation of school buses regard ing the qualifications of school bus drivers the contracts between county boards of education and school bus drivers and the procedure to be followed by county boards of edu cation in securing means of school bus transportation d No member of the State Board of Education or employee of the State Department of Education or county superin tendent of schools or member of a county board of edu cation should be financially interested in providing means or facilities for school bus transportation or in selling trans portation equipment or supplies to county boards of edu cation 11 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA LIBRARIES 3 510fi 054Db EMS3