A study of school transportation in Georgia: program of educational development for Georgia [Jan. 1945]

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A Study of School Transportation
In Georgia

Program of Educational Development
for Georgia
MAY q v
UNWRStTY
ISSUED BY
EDUCATION PANEL
Agricultural and Industrial Development Board of Georgia
Athens Georgia
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AGRICULTURAL 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
M D CollinsAtlanta
Ryburn G ClayAtlanta
Mrs Frank C DavidColumbus
Blanton FortsonAthens
Charles B GramlingAtlanta
Robert W GrovesSavannah
Alfred W JonesSea Island
TomLinder Atlanta
Wiley L MooreAtlanta
Walter R McDonaldAtlanta
Henry McIntoshAlbany
W H McNaughtonCartersville
J L PilcherMeigs
Robert StricklandAtlanta
MKing TuckerWaynesboro
Wilson WilliamsAtlanta
EDUCATION BULLETIN No 5
JANUARY 1945
EDUCATION PANEL
M D Collins Chairman Atlanta
Mrs Frank C DavidColumbus
Wilson Williams Atlanta
0 C AderholdAthens
c
o
By
J E Greene
Claude Purcell
and
0 C Aderhold W 0 Hampton
S P Clemons W A Stumpf
C A Williams Department of Public Safety
Preston Weeks Department of Public Safety
VHOTIPVMHMNHHi
I
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I INTRODUCTION 1
II SOURCES OF INFORMATION 5
III SAFETY IN PUPIL TRANSPORTATION 7
Safety Features in School Bus Equipment 7
Safety Practices in the Operation of School Busses l4
The Selection of Competent Drivers 17
IV INSURANCE ON SCHOOL BUSSES 19
V BUS ROUTING AND SCHEDULING AS RELATED TO PUPIL HEALTH AND
CONVENIENCE 24
VI FACTORS RELATED TO THE COST OF OPERATING SCHOOL
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS 35
Miscellaneous Factors Related to Cost A9
VII MISCELLANEOUS DATA ON SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION 53
Source of Driver Fay 53
Hours Bus Driver Is on Duty 53
Bus Driver Employment 53
Changes in Bus Routings 56
Manufacture of Chassis 57
Manufacture of Bodies 57
Days Nonoperative 62
Interest of The Respondents in The Report on The Findings 62
VIII MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF SCHOOL
TRANSPORTATION IN GEORGIA 63
Legal Responsibility for School Transportation Programs 63
Ownership of Equipment 4
Maintenance of Equipment 6A
iiMMHMHMMMM
CHAPTER PAQE
School Bus Routings 66
Selection and Training of Drivers 67
Records and Reports 70
Safety Regulations and Practices 71
IX SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 72
Safety 72
Insurance
Pupil Health and Convenience 75
Factors Related to Cost 76
Recommendations
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LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I Safety Features of Busses Sampled by the Questionnaire 8
II Safety Features of Busses Inspected by the State Patrol 9
III Extent of Overcrowding Among the School Busses Sampled
by the Questionnaire
IV Insurance Coverage of School Busses as Reported by
on
Respondents to the Questionnaire
V Extent of Insurance Premiums Paid as Reported by
21
Respondents to the Questionnaire
VI Extent of Insurance Collections as Reported by
22
Respondents to the Questionnaire
VII Longest Walking Distance to the Bus Route as Reported
by Respondents to the Questionnaire 5
VIII Time at Which the First Pupil Mounts Bus in the Morning26
IX Comparisons of Miscellaneous Factors Related to Pupil Health
or Convenience According to Type of Bus Ownership 27
X Time at Which the Last Pupil Leaves Bus in the Afternoon29
XI Shortest Distance Between Bus Stops as Reported by
Respondents to the Questionnaire32
XII Distance from Last Bus Stop to School as Reported by
Respondents to the Questionnaire33
XIII Factors Related to the Cost of Operating Busses During
the Biennium 194344
XIV List and Purchase Prices of Chassis and Bodies of Busses
39
Sampled by the Questionnaire
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ITABLE
XV
PAGE
XVI
Time by Which Respondents to the Questionnaire Report That
Bus Chassis and Bodies Will Need to be Replaced with
New Equipment 2
Anticipated Total Life of Chassis and Bodies as Reported
by Respondents to the Questionnaire 3
XVII Expenditures for Repairs Equipment and Supplies Among
Busses Sampled by the Questionnaire
XVIII Miscellaneous Factors Related to Cost of Operating School
Busses 8
Hours Bus Driver Is on Driving Duty as Reported by Respondents
to the Questionnaire 4
Types of Employment of Bus Drivers While Not on Driving Duty 5
Manufacturers of Bus Chassis According to Bus Inspection
Records
Manufacturers of Bus Chassis as Reported by
Respondents to the Questionnaire 9
XXIII Manufacturers of Bus Bodies According to Bus Inspection
Records 60
XXIV Manufacturers of Bus Bodies as Reported by
Respondents to the Questionnaire 61
XIX
XX
XXI
XXII
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The present study has two essential purposes l To present a fairly
detailed factual picture of present conditions in Georgia as related to selected
problems in pupil transportation and 2 to offer certain suggestions relative
to ways and means of improving the safety and economy of school transportation
in Georgia In connection with the first purpose we propose to cite detailed
statistical and other data obtained from the four sources indicated in Chapter II
entitled Sources of Information As a part of this factual presentation we
shall make certain comparisons of the relative safety convenience and economy
of privately owned busses as compared with publicly owned busses The generali
zations dealing with the present status of school transportation in Georgia will
be summarized under the following topical headings Safety in Pupil Transporta
tion Insurance Bus Routing and Scheduling as Related to Pupil Health and
Convenience Factors Related to Cost and Miscellaneous Data on School Transporta
tion In connection with the second purpose of this report we shall recommend
certain legislative enactments looking to the improvements of school transportation
and offer additional generalizations and comments which we believe will be of
interest and value to public school officials responsible for the formulation and
execution of policies dealing with pupil transportation For the convenience of
the reader most of the generalizations and comments addressed to school officials
responsible for pupil transportation programs will be treated separately in
Chapter VIII entitled Miscellaneous Suggestions for the Improvement of School
Transportation in Georgia
Not without reason pupil transportation has been referred to frequently as
the stepchild of the school program Programs of pupil transportation developed
in Georgia Trithout much conscious planning or serious attention As a result
the area of pupil transportation provides some of the most complex and difficultproblems which confront public education in Georgia
The present law relating to pupil transportation was passed more than two
decades ago It permits county boards of education or local trustees to provide
pupil transportation whenever such is deemed for the best interest of the school
The State Board of Education has no specific legal authority to prescribe minimum
standards for school transportation equipment or to regulate the operation of
school busses Georgia is one of the few southern states which does not vest
regulatory authority in the State Board of Education
Until a few years ago pupil transportation was a minor item in the cost of
operating schools During recent years however the proportionate expenditures
for transportation have increased rapidly until today expenditures for this pur
pose rank next in total cost to expenditures for teachers salaries During the
school year 194344 2785 busses traveled 65154 miles daily to transport 173633
children an average of 623 children per bus The annual cost for transporta
tion service was 3032853 or 1747 per child transported The equipment used
represented a total investment of 4033391 or 144826 per unit of equipment
The three principal patterns for the operation of transportation equipment in
Georgia arej l Publicly owned and operated busses 1216 2 privately owned
and operated busses 1053 and 3 jointly oied and contractoperated busses
516
During the past several years there has been a decided trend toward public
ownership and operation of school busses in Georgia Despite the restrictions on
the purchase of new equipment because of wartime conditions boards of education
have purchased 210 new and used busses during the past two fiscal years ending
June 30 1944 Prior to the 0DT order which froze all school busses as of
March 17 1943 many contractoperated busses were converted to nonschool use
In a number of instances boards of education have found it necessary to purchase
private equipment in order to continue their use for school purposes The unit
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cost for new chassis has increased approximately 600 over prewar prices and
there has been a corresponding increase of approximately 200 in the cost of
allsteel bus bodies The purchase price of new equipment has varied as much as
400 within the State and nearly as much within adjoining counties for identical
units of equipment This variation in prices along rdth factors referred to in
other sections of this report has created among local school officials a demand
for the State to provide facilities for some system of central purchase of equip
ment and supplies
The management and responsibility for school transportation 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 In other counties however
the board of education has inaugurated a countywide program of transportation
which meets welldefined minimum standards for equipment 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 alltoo
limited instructional programs
During recent years there has been a consistent tendency for county superin
tendents of schools to request more financial aid for transportation purposes and
more supervisory assistance from the State Department of Education in planning for
greater safety convenience and economy in pupil transportation 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 busses despite the fact that many county school officials
have requested the State Department of Education to prescribe such minimum stan
dards
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hiIt is becoming increasingly recognized that problems relating to school
transportation must be considered an integral part of any program of school
planning For example it is not advisable to plan a building program or the
location of school centers or the schedule or the curriculum of an individual
school without respect to transportation problems Obviously when an individual
bus serves more than one school the opening and closing hours of each school
should be directly related to the bus schedule This is not meant to imply that
all school plans must revolve about transportation plans It is clear however
that close interrelationships should be achieved between problems relating to
transportation and other significant aspects of the total school program
4 sCHAPTER II
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
The generalizations dealing with quantitative data which comprise the body
of this report were based on facts obtained from one or more of the following
sourcest
1
2
3
A detailed questionnaire sent to selected county superintendents of
schools in each of the ten congressional districts This questionnaire
asked for specific data on the construction maintenance and operation
of a particular bus in use during the school year 194344 The busses
so selected for intensive study were chosen on the basis of a random
tenpercent sample from a master list of all busses classified accord
ing to type of ownership This method of procedure seemed advisable for
several reasons It was desired to reduce the amount of labor and ex
pense involved in the study by securing detailed data on a representative
sample of busses of each type of ownership rather than by securing more
superficial data on all busses The sampling was sufficiently small to
permit active participation by the AllState Committee in assuming the
responsibility of securing questionnaire replies on the school busses
sampled in his congressional district A weighted sample was employed
in an effort to secure comparable data on busses according to type of
ownership One or more questionnaire forms were sent to the county
superintendent in 150 of the 159 counties comprising a total of approxi
mately 300 questionnaires Usable replies were obtained from 179 re
spondents in time for inclusion in the study Although supporting data
for the assertion will not be presented in details here there is reason
to believe that the busses on which replies were obtained constitute a
rather good crosssection sample of all school busses operating during
the school year 194344 A copy of the questionnaire is included in
Appendix A
With the cooperation of the State Department of Public Safety in the
persons of Director Williams and Sergeants Weeks and Alexander detailed
data were obtained from the 1943 school bus inspection records of the
Department These records mainly provided data concerning the safety of
construction and operation of school busses Punch card records were
obtained for 2242 inspections in 1943 or approximately 78 percent of
the busses in operation during that year It is the opinion of the staff
of the State Department of Public Safety that the busses which were not
inspected probably constitute a selected group There is reason to as
sume that busses which evaded inspection or failed to secure inspection
would rank lower with respect to safety features of construction and
operation than did the busses inspected A copy of the form used in
recording school bus inspection data is included in Appendix B
The State Department of Public Safety also made available to representa
tives of the AllState Committee data on school bus accidents It should
be emphasized that the records on school bus accidents are incomplete
since many such accidents probably do not receive the official attention
of the Department
5
mmmEkA A fourth type of data available to the committee consists of reports
from State Departments of Education the U S Office of Education and
certain published and unpublished literature on pupil transportation
In order to facilitate a detailed statistical analysis of the data involved
I B M punch cards were prepared on each of the 179 busses included in the
questionnaire sample and for each of the 222 busses included in the 193 school
bus inspection reports of the State Department of Public Safety In certain of
the calculations the arithmetic mean was used as the measure of central tendency
while in other calculations the median was used as the measure of central tendency
In a number of the tables it has been considered desirable to use the first quar
tile the third quartile and the quartile deviation as the measures of variability
In a few instances hen data were not available on certain items means were cal
culated on a fewer number of cases than were contained in the sample In these
instances the number of cases on which the mean is based is indicated in the given
table
The AllState Committee on Pupil Transportation participated in planning
the nature and scope of the problems to be investigated in determining the types
of data to be collected in the collection of the data obtained from the question
naire and in formulating major recommendations on policy The present report
was written jointly by J E Greene and Claude Purcell Consequently individual
members of the committee should not be held responsible for the detailed specific
interpretations made of data obtained from the four sources listed above It is
felt however that most of the detailed interpretations and all the major recom
mendations reported herein represent the concensus of judgement and opinion of the
AllState Committee and of the Education Panel staff
6 ylr

J CHAPTER III
SAFETY IN PUPIL TRANSPORTATION
The three principal factors determining safe pupil transportation are the
use of safe equipment the condition of roads and the skill of the driver and his
observance of safety rules It was not found feasible in this investigation to
secure adequate information on the condition of roads or on the skill of the
driver Tables I II and III present fairly detailed statistical data dealing
with safety features in school bus equipment and rith selected safety practices
in the operation of school busses Tables I and III are based on data obtained
from questionnaire returns Table II is based on data obtained from reports of
school bus inspections by the State Department of Public Safety
Safety Features in School Bus Equipment
It is generally recognized by authorities that safe school transportation
requires an allsteel body with safety glass The data from the State Patrol
inspection reports as well as from the questionnaire reveal that a considerable
number of school busses in operation in Georgia during 194 did not have allsteel
bodies Both of these studies show that roughly only three out of four school
busses have allsteel bodies It is of further interest and significance that an
appreciably greater percentage of publicly owned than of privately oned school
busses have allsteel bodies Publicly owned busses have from a 15 to 19 percent
higher incidence of allsteel bodies than do privately owned busses In the
questionnaire data homemade bodies occur about four times as frequently among
privately owned busses 154 percent as among publicly owned busses 38 percent
The school bus inspection data show homemade bodies to occur five times as fre
quently among privately owned busses 104 percent as among publicly oned
busses 21 percent
Under the laws of Georgia county boards of education are not permitted to
7
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SAFETY FEATUBES OE BUSSES SAMPLED BY THE QUEST I Oim I BE
Safety features
Allsteel bodies
Honemade bodies
Safety glass in windshield
Safety glass in windows
Safety glass in doors
Eerr emergency door
Windshield wiper
Hycraulic or air brakes
Busses with first aid kits
Busses with fire extinguisher
Busses with one or more dangerous stops
Average number of dangerous stops per route
Average age of bus drivers
Public
Private
All types
Ho
Ho
66 835 U2 Gke
3 38 10 15H
67 8U8 H9 75u
61 772 35 53 8
59 7M 35 S38
77 975 61 938
71 899 59 908
59 7U7 51 569
15 190 13 200
20 253 7 108
12 152 12 185
20 X 22 X
388 X U05 X
Ho
130
16
lUl
118
116
I69
161
122
37
37
28
25
393
i
73 u
90
797
667
650
955
910
68
20
209
158
9
9
1
00
1
mTABLE II
SAFETY FEATUBES OF BUSSES INSPECTED BY THE STATE PATBOL
Public
Private
All types
Safety features
Allsteel bodies
Homemade bodies
Sjfety glass in defective condition
Etar emergency door in defective condition
Windshield wiper in defective condition
Foot brakes in defective condition
Hjnd Drakes in defective condition
Busses having only one defective tire
Busses having two defective tires
Busses having three or more defective tires
Busses with unsatisfactory ratings on tires
Exhaust in defective condition
Busses releasing gas fumes
Busses with defective front visibility
Busses with defective rear visibility
Busses having gasoline leakage
Busses with defective axles springs
Busses with defective clutches
Busses with defective wheel alignment
Busses with defective headlights
Busses with defective tail lights
Busses with defective stop lights
Busses lacking spare bulbs and fuses
Busses with improperly focused headlights
Busses with unsatisfactory general sanitary condit
Busses with inadequate mechanical stop signal
Busses with inadequate school bus signs
Busses with first aid kits in defective condition
Busses with fire extinguishers in defective condit
Busses with unsatisfactory flares and flags
or shackles
Ho
792
19
101
89
52
92
285
51
26
11
52
431
151
14
45
17
11
3S
44
129
227
285
6U3
128
ions 27
555
49
700
ion 683
688
i
Ho
4
no
i
858
21
109
96
56
100
309
55
28
ll
56
467
164
15
18
12
41
48
i4o
246
309
697
139
29
601
53
758
7U0
75
861
126
4o6
13U
219
98
360
67
59
33
110
U69
15U
13
57
31
16
24
15
172
309
422
805
159
138
790
132
871
923
925
710
104
335
111
297
55
28
91
327
127
11
47
26
13
20
12
1U2
255
3H8
664
13I
114
652
109
719
762
763
17U6
145
528
228
282
201
67o
123
87
44
166
945
325
27
103
48
27
65
59
319
567
743
1521
307
17
1409
185
163
1688
1695
779
65
236
102
126
90
302
57
39
20
7U
U21
145
12
46
21
12
29
26
142
253
331
678
137
72
628
83
737
753
756
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5S5SSfficontract with individual bus drivers for ore than one year Individuals who
contract to transport children to and from school hesitate to invest heavily for
school bus equipment when the contract terminates at the close of each year
Many county boards of education solicit bids from individuals for transportation
services The type of equipment is often not specified in the bid The private
contractor is less likely than the county to have the necessary financial re
sources for purchasing firstclass equipment The private contractor does not
secure federal tax exertions on the purchase price of equipment to which the
county is entitled ill too frequently the school bus of the private contractor
consists of a chassis which has outworn its usefulness from hauiing fan produce
and a wooden body which has been hammered together at the lowest possible cost
Such equipment is likely to be unsafe unhygienic and uneconomical If Georgia
children are to be transported safely this kind of equipment must be relegated
to the junk yard as soon asnew equipment is made available after the war In
1933 antiquated wooden bus bodies were held largely responsible for the deaths of
15 Florida chUdren killed in school bus accidents Aroused to the importance of
safe equipment the Florida State Department of Education then ruled that after
July 1 1935 all school busses should be equipped with steel bodies
men type of ownership is not considered it is found from the questionnaire
returns that one out of five school busses did not have safety glaaa in the wind
shield and one out of three busses did not have safety glass in windows and doors
The school bus inspection reports also indicate that the safety glass in one out
of four busses inspected during 19 was in a defective condition It is extreme
ly significant that approximately nine out of ten publicly owned busses had safety
glass in good condition whereas only two out of three privately owned busses had
safety glass in good condition A similar comparison of the data resulting from
the questionnaire reveals clearly that publicly owned busses are considerably
ore likely to be equipped with safety glass than are privately owned busses
10 The school bus inspection records indicate that privately owned busses are more
than three tines as likely as publicly owned busses to have safety glass in a
defective condition When type of bus ownership is disregarded it is found
that one out of four busses had safety glass in a defective condition The
hazards involved in the use of nonshatterproof glass are too well recognized to
require comment
The questionnaire data show that when all types of busses are considered
one out of 20 does not have a rear emergency door This same study indicated
that 62 percent of privately owned busses lack rear emergency doors whereas
only 25 percent of the publicly owned busses are without rear emergency doors
Stated differently the absence of this important safety feature occurs more than
twice as frequently among privately owned busses as among publicly owned busses
It should be noted that in addition to busses which lack emergency doors there
were in 193 according to the school bus inspection records an additional 102
percent of busses with rear emergency doors which did not meet safety standards
Defective emergency doors occurred somewhat more frequently among privately owned
busses than among publicly omed busses In one county a bus operator padlocked
the emergency door from the outside Another instance is reported in which the
latch on the emergency door was broken and the door remained open or partly open
Approximately one out of 11 school busses sampled in the questionnaire
lacks a windshield wiper The school bus inspection records indicate that one
out of eight school busses which do have wipers have defects that impair their
use Defective windshield wipers occur more than three times as frequently among
privately owned busses as among publicly owned busses In this connection it is
of interest to note that during the year 194 a school bus accident in Lowndes
County involving serious injuries to six persons was reported by the State
trooper as beinp mainly due to the absence of a windshield wiper
Authorities in pupil transportation are in agreement that school busses
11 tflC23S238ii

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55ctSt55S
7 should be equipped with either hydraulic or air brakes The present findings
show that approximately three out of ten school busses in Georgia lack such
equipment The questionnaire data indicate that three out of four publicly
omed busses have hydraulic or air brakes whereas fewer than six out of ten
privately owned busses have such equipment The school bus inspection reports
indicate that the foot brakes on one out of 11 busses inspected were in defective
condition and three out of ten hand brakes were in defective condition Privately
owned busses ere slightly less likely than publicly owned busses to have foot
and hand brakes in defective condition We may assume that some of the busses
inspected had both types of brakes in defective repair and that at least one
third of the busses inspected were potential safety hazards because of defective
brakes The State Department of Public Safety reports a school bus accident in
Houston County in 193 in which there was a fatal injury due mainly to defective
brakes The same source reveals that because of defective brakes a school bus
accident in Cook County in 19 resulted in a serious injury
The school bus inspection data indicate that the general condition of
the tires of 74 percent of the busses inspected during 193 was considered as
being not 0 K Private busses were almost twice as likely as public busses
to have unfavorable ratings on this item These data also show that one out of
17 busses had one defective tire one out of 26 busses had two defective tires
one out of 50 busses had three or more defective tires and one out of nine
busses had one or more defective tires Although the ratio of busses having
only one defective tire was the same for privately owned as for publicly owned
busses it is of interest to note that privately owned busses were approximately
twice as likely as publicly owned busses to have more than one defective tire
Of the busses inspected in 13 four out of ten had exhausts listed as being
not 0 K and one out of seven busses had gas fumes released in such a manner
that children were likely to be nauseated while in transit One out of 20 busses
12 was listed as having defective rear visibility and one out of 83 had defective
front visibility In each of the four last items privately owned busses tend
to have slightly more favorable ratings than do publicly owned busses
One out of 49 busses inspected by the State Patrol was rated as having a
gasoline leakage This condition was found among 26 percent of the privately
owned busses as compared with 18 percent among the publicly owned busses Of
the busses inspected during 193 one out of 83 as reported to have defective
axles springsor shackles Type of ownership was not significantly related to
defective maintenance of axles springs or shackles One out of 39 busses in
spected by the State Patrol was rated as having defective wheel alignment This
condition occurred four times as frequently among publicly owned busses as among
privately owned busses Of the busses inspected in 193 one out of 3 had a
defective clutch This condition occurred twice as frequently among publicly
owned busses as among privately oned busses
The National Congress on School Bus Standards recommend that each bus
should be equipped with headlights tail light stop light and extra bulbs and
fuses The State Patrol bus inspections reveal that when type of ownership is
disregarded one out of seven busses had defective headlights one out of four
had defective tail lights one out of three had defective stop lights two out
of three lacked adequate spare bulbs and fuses and one out of seven had im
properly focused headlights There was a slight but inconsistent tendency for
privately owned busses to compare unfavorably with publicly owned busses with
respect to adequate lighting facilities and practices
The school bus inspection records furnish ratings on general sanitary con
ditions of busses Considering all busses inspected it was found that the
sanitary condition of one out of 13 as rated as unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory
ratings on sanitary conditions occurred four times as frequently among privately
owned busses as among publicly owned busses
13 Safety Practices in the Operation of
School Busses
The school bus inspections reveal that more than six out of ten school
busses are without usable mechanical stop signals Under present Georgia law
neither the State Department of Public Safety nor the State Board of Education
has the authority to require busses to have equipment with this safety feature
Although Georgia law requires all school busses to display school bus signs the
school bus inspection reports reveal that one out of 12 busses either did not
have such signs or otherwise did not meet specifications of the law This viola
tion of the law occurred more than twice as frequently among privately owned
busses as among publicly owned busses The questionnaire data indicate that four
out of five school busses in Georgia are not equipped with satisfactory first aid
kits and the school bus inspection reports show that of the busses inspected
less than onefourth had first aid kits in satisfactory condition Type of bus
ownership does not appear to be a significant factor in determining prevalence of
first aid kits The questionnaire data indicate that roughly one out of five
school busses was equipped with fire extinguishers and that publicly owned busses
are more than twice as likely as privately owned busses to have such equipment
The school bus inspection data indicate that threefourth of the school busses
which are equipped with fire extinguishers have equipment which is not in proper
condition for use The State Patrol inspection records indicate that only one
fourth of the school busses were equipped with satisfactory flares and flags
The questionnaire data indicate that in the opinion of therespondent
roughly one out of six school busses had one or more dangerous stops The State
Department of Public Safety reports a school bus accident in 193 in Gwinnett
County in which a serious injury occurred because of a school bus stop too near
the crest of a hill In this accident both the bus and the other vehicle in
curred considerable damage Routes served by privately owned busses were more
likely than routes served by publicly oTied busses to have a danrerous stop andtUthe number of such stops per route was somewhat greater for privately owned busses
than for publicly owned busses Of the busses reporting dangerous stops the
mean number of such stops was 25 stops All bus drivers should be trained to
recognize hazardous bus stops School officials who have authority in establish
ing school bus routes should be careful to avoid designating stops at hazardous
places
The overloading of school busses represents a hazard in pupil transportation
which cannot be minimized Crowding at the front of bus or even in the center
aisle impedes the drivers view One case was reported in the questionnaire re
turns in which 109 pupils were transported regularly in a 48passenger bus
Overcrowding is much more prevalent during recent years because of the shortage
of school bus equipment During the war school bus routes have been combined in
the interest of economy and because of the leek of sufficient equipment The
data from the questionnaire indicate that all types of busses tended to be serious
ly overcrowded on first loads but somewhat less seriously overcrowded on second
and third loads Table III It is found for example that when type of bus
ownership is disregarded the typical bus is overloaded 713 percent on the first
load 391 percent on the second load and 25 percent on the third load It is
of interest to note that the indices of overcrowding on the first and second
loads are considerably greater for privately owned busses first load 1810
second load 1502 than for publicly owned busses first load 1577 second
load 1329 The index of overcrowding on the third load however is 1158 for
publicly ovned busses as compared with 897 for privately owned busses Since
only 175 percent of the busses sampled have more than two loads of passengers
and since all types of busses are seriously overcrowded on the first and second
loads it is probably safe to assume that the typical school bus in Georgia in
1944 carried a passenger load at least 50 percent greater than its rated seating
capacity In addition to the hazards to physical safety and to personal comforts
15 TABLE III
EXTENT OF OVERCROWING AMONG THE SCHOOL BUSSES SAMPLED BY THE QUEST IONNAIRE
Factor
Public
Private
Total No of passengers transported
No of passengers on first load
No of passengers on second load
No of passengers on third load
Capacity of bus ideal conditions
Index of overcrowding first load
Index of overcrowding second load
Index of overcrowding third load
No of bu sses
involved in Mean
calculations
79 763
78 470
46 396
13 345
58 2S8
58 1577
46 1329
13 1158
o of busses
involved in
calculations
Moan

63 753
64 476
29 395
18 236
46 263
46 1810
29 1502
18 897
All types
NoT of busses
involved in Mean
calculations
175 r20
175 478
86 388
34 286
134 279
134 1713
86 1391
34 1025
by the capacity of the bus under ideal seating conditions
I
tw
H

iff

Iand conveniences which result from overcrowding of busses many authorities in
the field of school transportation refer to the moral hazards of overcrowding
particularly as related to adolescent girls
The Selection of Competent Drivers
No school bus is safer than the driver who operates it Obviously the major
responsibility for selecting competent school bus drivers must be assumed by the
county boards of education The Georgia law requires school bus operators to
possess a chauffeurs license This license may be acquired through application
by mail No test of driving skills is required Until recently the minimum age
for a chauffeurs license was 18 years At present it has been reduced to 17
years by executive order of the Governor Student drivers are being employed to
operate the busses with greater frequency than formerly According to the
questionnaire returns the mean age of bus drivers in Georgia during 19 as 393
years Table l There was a slight tendency for the drivers of private busses
405 years to be somewhat older than the drivers of public busses 388 years
This finding is probably due in part to the fact that a greater proportion of
publicly ormed busses than of privately oned busses makes use of student drivers
The maximum age of drivers was reported to be 65 years whereas the minimum age
reported was 17 years
Careful study of reports of schoolbus accidents compiled by the State
Department of Public Safety indicates that there are many drivers operating
Georgia school busses who appear to lack proper qualifications The type of
violations recorded in these reports show that in several instances school bus
drivers made left turns without proper signals or failed to make proper stop
signals One serious accident was due to improper supervision of pupil unload
ing In one instance a bus driver was arrested on a charge of drunkenness and
leaving the scene of an accident In other instances the bus driver was charged
with reckless driving A case is also reported in nfeich the driver had no
17 ichauffeurs license
According to the statistics quoted in the preceding sections publicly owned
and operated pupil transportation service generally tends to result in the use of
safer equipment and safer operation In both studies a greater number of defects
was found in privately owned equipment than in publicly owned equipment and in
general the defects found in privately owned equipment constituted a more serious
type of safety hazard than did those found in publicly owned equipment The
present State law does not authorize the State Board of Education to prescribe
minimum standards for the construction and operation of school bus equipment
There is ample evidence that county boards of education would welcome guidance
and overall regulations in this field by the State Department of Education
Georgia law requires that more than onehalf million children attend
school for a period of nine months annually More than onethird of these
children are at present being transported to and from school A society hich
requires school attendance by this very act imposes upon itself the responsibility
of providing safe and reasonably convenient means of transportation to school
children who live beyond reasonable walking distance from school or who do not
have access to other suitable means of transportation to and from school The
data cited in this chapter clearly reveal that much too high a proportion of the
busses now in operation fail to meet reasonable standards of safety It is the
judgment of the Education Panel of the Agricultural and Industrial Development
Board that the time is long overdue when the State Board of Education should be
empowered and directed to adopt and enforce rules and regulations providing for
greater safety and economy in the purchase operation and maintenance of school
busses It is also the judgment of the Education Panel that county boards of
education and county superintendents of schools should give more careful atten
tion than is now generally practiced to the formulation and enforcement of poli
cies insuring greater safety for pupils transported to and from school
18 fcr
HHHHaHHaMiiHMflHHHBMBHlMHIimHHMnlHmHiHCHAPTER 17
INSURANCE ON SCHOOL BUSSES
Only four states require that public liability insurance be carried
either by the driver or by the school district on every motor vehicle used in
pupil transportation Four other states authorize school boards to carry suit
able insurance Data from the questionnaire returns show that slightly over
onethird of the school busses sampled carried one or more types of insurance
Table IV Liability coverage occurred somewhat more frequently than fire
or theft coverage and nearly ten times as frequently as collision coverage
In general there was a somewhat greater tendency for publicly owned than
for privately owned busses to carry insurance
A comparison of the available data reveals a marked discrepancy between
the amount paid for insurance and the amount collected Table V and VI For
example the 42 busses which carried liability insurance paid a total of
1176 in premiums Table V on which only one bus made a collection in the
amount of 39 Table VI Stated differently 3 was expended on liability
premiums for each one cent collected from liability claims Twentynine busses
paid premiums for property damage coverage in the amount of 229 as compared
with collections for property damage claims in the amount of 110 Eight
busses paid premiums totaling 124 for collision coverage and there were no
collections for any of these busses Thirtyone busses paid premiums for
fire coverage in the amount of 320 and one bus collected a fire damage
claim in the amount of 12 Twentynine busses paid premiums for theft cover
age in the amount of 121 and there were no collections for theft Studies
of expenditures and collections for school bus insurance in Ohio and in South
Carolina show a ratio of expenditures to collections of more than 10 to 1
It is clear that for the busses studied the amount of money expended
for insurance coverage enoimously exceeded the amount received in collections
for damage The State Auditor has consistently pointed out that expenditures
19 TABLE IV
INSURANCE COVERAGE OS SCHOOL BUSSES AS REPORTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Public
Type of insurance coverage
No
No of busses
No of busses
No of busses
No of busses
No of busses
No of busses
No of busses
earring some type of insurance
with liability coverage1 accident
with liability coverage1 passenger
with property damage coverage
with collision coverage
with fire coverage
with theft coverage
3
20
15
13
l
19
18
i
U31
253
190
165
13
2U0
22 g
Private
No
23
15
13
13
3
7
6
i
35
230
260
200
M
10 g
92
All types
iNO
66
3
35
31
U
27
25
373
2U3
IS7
176
22
153
1U2
oBHIHHHHHHr
aSicSmsassBMTABLE V
EXTENT OE IESUSA3CE FEEMIUMS PAID AS BEfOBIEB 3Y RESPONDENTS 10 THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Public
Private
Joint
All types
Insurance premiums
Premium paid
Premium paid
Premiumpiaid
Premium paid
Premium pale
liability
property damage
collision
fire
theft
No of Total Ho of Total Ho of Total No of
busses amount busses amount busses amount busses
paying paid paying paid paying paid paying
premium premiumpremiumpremium
20
15
k
22
21
10s
62
23H
79
Total
amount
paid
lU
9
3
8
7
51 g 171 U2 1176
62 5 58 29 229
U6 l 16 8 12U
77 l 5 31 320
Ui l 1 29 121
3ms vi
EXTENT OF INSUBAHCS COLLECTION A3 EEKETED BY EBSiONDESTS TO THE QUESTIOBHAIBE

Insurance collected Fttbll Frivate Joint All types
Ho of busses collecting damage Total amount collected Ho of busses collecting damaee Total amount collected Ho of busses collecting damage Total amount collected Ko oi busses collecting damage iotal amount collecl
Amount collected liability Amount collected property damage Amount collected collision Amount collected fire Amount collected theft None 1 None None Hone Hone 10 Hone Hone None None 1 None 1 Hone Hone 50 None 12 Hone 1 1 None None NoiEe 39 50 Hone None None 1 3 none 1 None 39 110 None 12 Hone
0 TfyT7rtftJTd iiis
SSSSBSSSSRSSSSSSSs
for school bus insurance are not authorized by law Most of the boards of
education who require insurance bypass the State Auditors recommendation
by increasing the drivers salary or contract to an amount sufficient to
cover the costs of insurance coverage Boards of education generally feel
that they have a moral obligation to protect children injured in bus acci
dents to the extent of guaranteeing all necessary hospitalization and medical
care In Alabama the obligation is met by the State appropriating 50000
annually to the Workmans Compensation Board for the purpose of adjusting
any and all claims made wherein school children or public employees are in
volved The appropriations greatly exceed the adjustment payments made
In North Carolina the State Board of Education is required to set aside suf
ficient school money to reimburse parents up to 600 for cost incurred
because of school bus accidents Neither of these states acknowledges lia
bility on the part of the State in case of accident In Kentucky school
boards have been exempted from legal liability but the courts have recogniz
ed a moral responsibility with the result that 5000 30000 policies are
strongly urged in the Transportation Manual issued by the Kentucky Depart
ment of Education Kentucky has also arranged to pool the school bus in
surance in the State whereby the expenditures for premiums have been reduced
by twothirds Some counties assume insurance risks by a county fund for
this purpose and thus save cost of insurance premiums
23CHAPTER V
BUS ROUTING AND SCHEDULING AS RELATED TO PUPIL HEALTH
AND CONVENIENCE
Wartime restriction on the operation of busses as prescribed by the
Office of Defense Transportation sets up 15 miles as a reasonable walking
distance to a bus route Children living within two miles of the school are
not eligible for transportation under wartime restrictions The data from
the questionnaire dealing with longest walking distance to bus routes
Table VII indicate that there is a wide divergence among busses in the longest
distance which a pupil must walk to reach the bus stop For example more
than onethird of the busses report longest walking distances of two miles or
more whereas about oneninth of the busses report walking distances of one
fourth miles or less The median rating on longest walking distance for
all busses is 16 miles There is a tendency for private bus routes 14
miles to have shorter walking distances than do public bus routes 18 miles
This finding may be due to the fact that the private contractor is usually paid
on a mileage basis and is anxious to extend the route to secure extra pay
When type of bus ownership is disregarded it is found that the median
time at which the first pupil mounts the bus is 728 AM Table VIII In 25
percent of the cases the mounting time is before 716 AM and in 25 percent
of the cases it is later than 751 AM While the data gathered do not indi
cate precisely the time at which the average pupil mounts the bus since the
data are based on first pupil to mount bus it is probably safe to assume
that the vast majority of school children must be at the bus trunk route be
fore 8 AM Type of bus ownership does not appear to be significantly related
to the time at which the first pupil mounts the bus in the morning
More than nine out of ten of the respondents to the questionnaire re
ported that pupils were required to wait after the bus arrival for school to
open Table IX Tne necessity for pupil waiting is partly due to the fact
24HiH

TABLE VII
LONGEST WALKING DISTANCE TO BUS
ROUTE AS REPORTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE
distance Private Joint All types
Vf Iking No Public i No No k No
1 30 3 17
3 miles 2 miles 1 mile i mile t mile 2 30 29 3 25 330 367 101 13 1000 17 26 13 7 2 63 lH 21 6 262 Uoo 200 108 3Q 12 13 2 k 36 U 39 61 121 30 59 68 23 20 u 333 35 130 n3 22
No data Total First quartile Meciian Third cmartile Quartile deviation 1 79 11 13 2U 7 mi mi mi mi mi mi mi mi loo Q 33 12 lS 2U 6 mi mi mi mi 1000 177 10 16 23 12 mi mi mi mi 100Q
TABLE VIII
TIME AT WHICH EIR3T PUPIL MOUNTS 3U3 II MOVING AS REPOBTID BY EE5PONDENTS TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Time first passenger
mounts bus in morning
Public
No
831 8k5 AM 1
8l6 230 AM 5
801 815 AM 3
7U6 800 AM 1
731 75 AM 12
7tl6 730 AM 2k
701 715 AM 19
Before 700 AM 1
Unknown
Total 79
First quartile 715
Median 727
Third quartile 73
Quartile deviation 17
J
13
63
38
177
152
303
2U1
13
1000
Private
No
2
5
5
9
8
20
lU
2
65
715
727
752
18
JL
31
77
77
13S
123
308
215
31
1000
Joint
No
6
2
k
10
5
5
l
33
72U
739
7u5
10
182
61
12
30
15
15
30
1000
All types
No
3
16
10
27
30
k3
38
3
l
177
7l6
728
751
17
17
90
56
153
169
277
215
17
6
1000
ro
cr
HHgHHHHMHMHMaiiMMHBMMIMIMH
TA3LE IX
COMPARISONS OF KISGELLAHBOUS FACTORS RELATED TO PUPIL HEALTH OR OOSVEJIMCB ACCORDING TO TIPS OF BUS OWNERSHIP
Factors related to pupil health or convenience No inv Publi c Prirate Joint All tyx es
of busses olved in Mean No of busses involved in Mean No inv of busses olved in Mean No of busses involved in Mean
calculations calculations cal culations 33 202 cal culations
Minutes waited after bus arrived until school 72 250 5S 250 I63 2U0
Minutes waited after school for bus to leave 77 200 65 15 u 33 119 175 177
Greatest Ho of minutes any passenger spent on bus 79 90U 65 901 32 loUg 176 929
Fewest No of minutes any passenger on bus spent 7S 1Q0 6U 177 32 167 165 1SS
Handicapped passengers transported by bus 1U 15 11 12 6 12 31 13
Passengers transported to bus trunk line 5 68 7 53 2 UO 1U 56

that onehalf of all busses transport two or more loads of children to and
from school The mean amount of tine waited for school to open was reported
to be 24 minutes The mean time waited for school to open is less for
jointly owned busses 20 minutes than for publicly owned and privately
owned busses 25 minutes each All but four of the 179 respondents report
ed that pupils had to wait after school before mounting the bus The mean
amount of time waited for this purpose was 20 minutes for publicly owned buss
es and 154 minutes for privately owned busses
The questionnaire asked for two types of data on the amount of time
spent by pupils on the bus It was found that the mean number of minutes re
ported for the students who were on the bus for the longest period of time
was 929 minutes whereas the mean number of minutes on the bus for the
student who rode the shortest period of time was 188 minutes If it be
assumed that the average student spends a period of time on the bus about
equally distant from these two extremes it is clear that the average student
would spend approximately one hour daily as a bus passenger The amount of
time spent aboard a bus appears to be relatively independent of the factor
of bus ownership
There is somewhat greater variation in the time when the last pupil
leaves the bus in the afternoon than in the time when the first pupil mounts
the bus in the morning When type of bus ownership is disregarded it is
found that the median time at which the last pupil leaves the bus is 424 PM
Table X Onefourth of the respondents reported a demounting time prior
to 403 PM whereas an additional onefourth of the respondents reported a
demounting time later than 445 PM There appears to be a slight tendency
for pupils transported by public conveyance to arrive home earlier median
421 PM than do pupils transported by privately owned busses medians
430 PM It is probably safe to assume that the typical pupil
28 TABLE X
TIME il WHICH LAST HIPIL LEAVES BUS IH AfTEBHOOH AS BEPCBTED BY BESPOHDEHTS TO THE ESIIOUMIBE
Time last passenger
leaves bus in afternoon
601 630 PM
531 600 PM
501 530 PM
U3i 500 PM
Uoi 30 PM
331 U00 PM
301 330 PM
Before 300 PM
Unknown
Total
Firdt quartile
Medi
Third quartile
Quartile deviation
Public
No
2
7
20
30
12
7
l
79
U00
U21
UU5
25
89
252
3S0
152
89
13
1000
Ho
Private
23 min
1
3
3
25
21
8
2
1
1
65
U09
U30
UUg
20 min
15
U6
U6
386
323
123
31
15
15
100o
Ho
Joint
T
All types
Ho
1 6
2 61 7 uo
1 30 n 62
9 273 5U 305
16 Ue5 67 378
U 121 2U 136
9 51
2 li
l 30 2 ll
33 1000 177 1000
U09 UC3
U2l k2k
UU2 HU5
17 min 21 min
M3will be discharged from his bus about 4 PM or shortly thereafter
The foregoing data on factors related to pupil convenience admittedly
do not reveal the full picture with respect to atypical situations For exam
ple some pupils daily spend as much as four hours on a bus while other pu
pils spend as little time as ten minutes Also certain of the data refer
to atypical pupils or atypical situations eg longest walking distance
time first pupil mounts bus in the morning and time last pupil demounts
bus in the afternoon rather than to typical pupils or situations Despite
these linitatians in the data it is possible to give a rough description of
the experience of the typical student transported to school He walks about
one mile from his home to the bus route in order to catch a bus at about
745 8 AM He rides the distance of about ten miles to school and waits
24 minutes for school to open After school is dismissed in the afternoon
he waits 18 minutes in order to catch a buJ and will be discharge from the
bus at about 4 415 PM He will probably reach home about 430 PM That
is considering the time spent in walking the typical child probably leaves
home about 730 in the morning and returns about 430 in the afternoon
The above picture f the experiences of the typical pupil transported
to school obviously will not fit the extreme cases For example some pupils
walk more than three miles to the bus stop to mount a bus before 7 AM
Other pupils spend daily as much as four hours on a bus Cases are reported
in which pupils wait for 90 minutes for school to open and an equal amount of
time after school in waiting for a bus Since some pupils demount the bus
after 6 PM and will walk for as much as two or three miles from the bus stop
to home the time of arrival at home for these extreme cases may be as late
as 630 PM The strains and hazards imposed by these extreme conditions
inevitably have an adverse effect on pupil health and comfort seriously
30 rtduce the amount of time available for study and for home duties and often
markedly disrupt the habits of living of the pupil and of his family
The mean number of handicapped passengers per bus transporting handi
capped passengers was reported by questionnaire respondents to be 13 handi
capped passengers Table IX Publicly owned busses had a somewhat greater
average number of handicapped passengers than did privately owned busses
Only 14 of the 177 respondents to the questionnaire reported that one
or more passengers was transported to the bus line by private conveyance
The mean number of persons transported by private conveyance to these 14 bus
routes was 56 persons
Respondents to the questionnaire were asked to indicate the shortest
distance between bus stops and the distance from last stop to school When
all types of bus ownership are considered it was found that the typical bus
reported the shortest distance between bus stops as being 2 mile Table XI
There was a marked variation in the shortest distance between bus stops as
reported by respondents For example 17 percent of the respondents reported
the shortest distance between bus stops as being 1 mile or more whereas
169 percent of the respondents reported the shortest distance between bus
stops as being 100 yards In general publicly owned busses median 3 miles
were less likely than privately owned busses median 2 miles to have bus
stops spaced closely adjacent to each other
Table XII presents data showing the distance from the last bus stop to
school as reported by respondents to the questionnaire When type of bus owner
ship is disregarded the median such distance is found to be 14 miles
Four percent of the busses reported the distance as being two or more miles
whereas 209 percent of the respondents reported the distance as being one
half mile The typical publicly owned bus 13 miles was somewhat more
likely than the typical privately owned bus 15 miles to admit passengers
near the school iJi TABLE XI
SHORTEST DISTANCE 3EWEEN BUS STOPS AS REPORTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THE UESTIONlIHE
Shortest distance
between stops
1 mile or more
12 mile
1U mile
13 mile
100 yards
No data
Total
First quartile
kedian
Third quartile
Quartile deviation
No
Public
2
5
35
26
11
79
1 mi
3 mi
U mi
2 mi
h
25
63
wU
329
139
1000
Private
1
1
25
23
lH
1
65
1 mi
2 mi
2 mi
1 mi
ch
15
15
386
35
215
15
1000
No
Joint
1
15
12
5
33
2
2
u
1 mi
mi
mi
mi
3l
30
U5U
36 u
152
1000
All types
No
3
7
75
61
30
1
177
1 mi
2 mi
3 mi
1 mi
fa
17
Uo
U2U
35
168
6
1000
TABLE XII
DISTANCE EEOM LAST BUS STOP TO SCHOOL AS BEPGMED BY BESFOOTIS TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Distance from last
bus stop to school
2 or more miles
2 miles
li miles
1 mile
mile
Ho data
Total
First quartile
Median
Third quartile
Quartile deviation
No
Public
3 7 16 32 21
79
9 mi
13 mi
17 H mi mi
32
S9
203
uoU
266
1000
Private
No
3 U6
10 15 U
17 262
23 35
11 169
1 15
65 1000
11 mi
15 mi
19 mi
k mi
Jo
Joint
1
5
lU
7
5
l
33
12 mi
16 mi
19 mi
mi
3l
30
152
U2U
212
152
30
1000
All types
No
H mi
3l
7 Uo
22 12U
U7 266
62 350
37 209
2 ll
177 1000
11 mi
lU mi
18 mi
The convenience afforded pupils while being transported to and
from school should be given careful consideration Children of upper
elementary and high school ages are much more able than younger pupils to
withstand the hardships implied in the experiences as described above of
the typical child transported to and from school The pupil time consumed
while on a bus is also a factor in determining the efficiency of the total
educative experience Therefore it is a sound and wise policy to plan
reasonably short bus routes It is generally accepted that pupils should
not be required to spend more than a maximum cf one hour daily on a school
bus Pupil convenience wculd be greatly increased if each bus transported
only one load of children to and from a school All transported children
could be delivered at the time of school opening and picked up promptly
at the close of school Such an arrangement would necessitate an additional
1934 busses in Georgia to afford this type of pupil convenience
34CHAPTER VI
FACTORS RELATED TO THE COST OF OPERATING SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
An effective program of pupil transportation should provide safe and
convenient transportation for pupils and school employees eligible for such
service and this service should he available under conditions of maximum eco
nomy of time and of money
The present section of this report is concerned with certain factors
related to the economical expenditure of public monies for purposes of school
transportation It is generally recognized that the chief factors involved
in the maintenance of an economical system of pupil transportation include the
fcllowing Original cost and operative life of equipment frequency and
extent of costs in replacing equipment and costs involved in the maintenance
and operation of equipment
The report of the State Superintendent of Schools for the Mennium
19434 indicates that the reported mean values of chassis according to
type of bus ownership were Publicly owned 81579 privately owned 88050
jointly owned 88315 Table XIII Stated differently the typical private
chassis was estimated to have a value greater by 8 percent than the typical pub
licly owned chassis Independent evidence reveals that the publicly owned
chassis had somewhat longer wheel bases than did the privately owned chassis
It is reasonable to assume that the manufacturers list price of the typical
publicly owned chassis was higher than that of the typical privately owned
chassis There is general agreement among authorities in the field of school
transportation that the initial cost of a standard unit of equipment is consider
ably greater for private purchasers than for county boards of education for the
reasons that county hoards of education are able to purchase bus equipment at
quantity prices are excused from the payment of federal excise taxes and
secure relatively low interest rates and carrying charges Also the purchaser
35 FACTO
IOBS RELATED TO SHE COST OF
TABLE XIII
02EHATIB0 BUSSES DIBIHG IKE 3IEHHIUM lUU
Factor
Public
Private
Joint
All types
Ho of busses in operation biennium 19L U
Reported average value of chassis
Reported average value of bodies
Mean Ho of miles traveled per bus
Mean cost of operation per bus
Mean cost per mile traveled
1167
81579
666Ui
8U391
111022
0136
101
88050
5320
79117
107576
0136
U93
88315
56803
725UO
110650
0153
2701
85302
59750
80195
109650
0137
of private equipment is often required by the seller to take insurance on the
equipment thus tending to increase the cost of privately owned equipment as
compared with publicly owned equipment It seems obvious therefore that the
reported greater value of privately owned chassis as compared with publicly owned
chassis is only a reflection of the higher initial costs of privately owned
chassis per standard unit of equipment rather than being a measure of genuine
superiority of privately owned chassis
The reported average values of bodies for the biennium 19434 according
to type of bus ownership were Publicly owned 66641 privately owned
53420 jointly wned 56803 It is thus seen that the reported value of
privately owned bodies is only 80 percent of that for publicly owned bodies
and that the bodies of jointly owned equipment are reported to have a mean value
only 85 percent as great as that for publicly owned bodies Since county boards
of education are generally able to purchase a standard bus body at a considerably
lower initial cost per unit of value than are private purchasers it appears
obvious that the relatively low values reported for bodies of privately and
jointly owned busses reflect an even lower level of safety and comfort features
in the bodies of privately andjointly owned equipment than the variation in re
ported present values would indicate Data previously cited in Chapter III
indicate that the safety and comfort features of bodies of publicly owned
equipment are markedly superior to those of privately and jointly owned equip
ment
The mean cost per bus mile traveled during the biennium 19434 accord
ing to type of bus ownership was reported to be as follows Publicly owned
132 cents privately owned 136 cents jointly owned 153 cents That is
privately owned busses cost 3 percent more per bus mile traveled than did
publicly owned busses and jointly owned busses cost 16 percent more per bus
mile traveled than did publicly owned busses The discrepancy between the oper
37 orf

i ating cost of publicly owned equipment as compared with privately or jointly
owned equipment is even more outstanding for the Uranium ending June 30 1942
than for the current biennium It was found for example that the average
cost per bus mile operated according to type of ownership was as follows
Public 105 cents private 123 cents joint 127 cents State dif
ferently the per mile cost of privately owned equipment was 17 percent
greater and for jointly owned equipment it was 20 percent greater than for
publicly owned equipment The 1942 data also show marked discrepancies in the
annual perpupil cost according to type of bus ownership as follows Public
1324 private 1546 joint 1568 On the assumption that the passenger
load and route mileage for each type of bus was identical it would have been
possible during the year 1942 to have saved 24825696 if the children trans
ported by privately and jointly owned equipment had been transported by publicly
owned equipment The findings reported above are in keeping with data reported
in the literature to the effect that by any standard criterion on unit of cost
privately owned busses tend to be more expensive to the taxpayers per unit of
service rendered than are publicly owned busses
It is shown in Table XIV that the mean list price of 172 chassis reported
by questionnaire respondents was 91770 and the mean purchase price of the 128
chassis was 85302 That is when type of ownership is disregarded it was
found that the purchase price of chassis amounted to 93 percent of the list
price Comparison of the ratio of list price to purchase price of chassis ac
cording to type of ownership indicates that publicly owned chassis were pur
chased at a considerably greater saving over the list price 97 percent than
were privately owned chassis 57 percent It is reasonable to assume that
even the publicly owned equipment might have been purchased more economically
had provisions existed by means of which group purchasing might have been made
In any case a considerable saving might have been effected if the privately
38 TABLE XIV
LIST AMD PURCHASE
ESXCB OF CHASSIS AND BODIES OF 3U33E3 SAMPLED BY 991
QJJESXIONMIEE
Factor
Public
No of busses
involved in Mean
calculations
List price of chassis
Purchase price of chassis
List price of body
Furchese price of body
79
59
75
65
Private
No of busses
involved in Mean
falculations
9085
8939
75215
81555
6o
hi
6o
hi
88312
833UU
61312
57662
Joint
No of busses
involved in Mean
calculations
33
28
32
29
92515
88932
622Ul
567OO
All types
No of busses
involved in Mean
calculations
172
128
167
lUl
91770
85302
67733
68479
owned equipment had been purchased under terms as advantageous as those which
applied to the publicly owned equipment The excess in initial cost of publi
cly owned chassis rver privately owned chassis is to be accounted format least
in part by the fact that the former were designed for larger size bus bodies
than the latter
The mean list price of 167 bodies reported amounted to 67733 as com
pared with the mean purchase price of 141 bodies reported to be 68479 That
is when type of ownership is disregarded it appears that bus bodies were
not purchased at a discountover the list price Obviously the discrepancy
in the number of cases reporting list price and purchase price could partly
account fer the finding that the mean purchase price of bodies was reported
to be slightly higher than the mean list price The slight excess of purchase
price over list price of bodies may also be due in part to thefact that extra
equipment not included in the list price was purchased in many instances
In the light of the latter interpretation it is interesting to note that the
excess in purchase price over list price of publicly owned bodies apparently
indicates that these pieces of equipment provided a greater number of safety and
comfort features for passengers than did the privately owned bodies It is
unfortunately not possible from the data gathered tc make precise generalizations
concerning the relative economy of private purchasing versus public purchasing
although the general trend of the available data and of independent evidence
strongly supports the view that the latter method of purchasing is to be pre
ferred The experience 6f other states notably Alabama and North
Carolina appears to indicate that remarkable economies in the purchase of
equipment may be achieved through a Statesponsored program for central
purchasing or certified contract pricing of equipment This suggested plan
of certified contract pricing is analogous to the Georgia system of multiple
textbook listing and contract pricing
AO Each respondent to the questionnaire was asked to indicate the tine by
which that particular chassis and bus body would need to be replaced with new
equipment Replies to thewe two questions are analyzed in Tables XV and
XVI When type of ownership is disregarded it is found that the typical
chassis will need replacement within 20 years and the typical body will need
replacement within 28 years Onefourth of the chassis will need replacement
within 13 years while onefourth will last for as long as 31 years or more
Onefourth of the bodies will need replacement within 16 years while an addi
tional fourth are expected to last for 48 years or more
Comparisons of replacement needs according to type of ownership of
equipment reveal that publicly owned chassis and bodies will not need replace
ment as soon as will privately owned chassis and bodies For example the
typical publicly owned chassis will need replacement within 21 years whereas
the typical privately owned chassis will need replacement within 18 years
A similar comparison of the replacement needs of bodies indicates that the ty
pical privately owned body will need replacement about 13 months sooner than
will the typical publicly owned body It is of interest to notethat three
out of four privately owned chassis will need replacement within 27 years
as compared with 35 years for publicly owned chassis A similar comparison
of the longevity of bus bodies indicates that onefourth of the privately
owned bus bodies will be serviceable for 33 or more additional years while
onefourth of the publicly owned bodies are expected to be serviceable for
54 or more additional years
On the assumption that the replacement needs of all bus equipment in
Georgia fairly closely approximate that of the sample it is possible to esti
mate with fair accuracy the potential market or demand for each type of equipment
for each of several succeeding years For example if they had been available
41 TABLE XV
TIME BY MIC BESPOHBEHTS TO TEE QUESTIOFHAIBE EEPOBT THAT BUS CHASSIS AHD
BODIES WILL USED TO BE REPLACED WITH HEW EQUIPMENT
Time by which
equipment will need
replacement
Puhlic
Private
Joint
Chassis
All types
XiQ
g years
7 years
6 years
5 years 7 9
k years 3 32
3 years 13 l6H
2 years H 139
1 year 26 330
Immediately 6 76
No data 13 l6U
Total 79 1000
Median 21 yrs
First quartile lH yrs
Third quartile 35 yrs
Quartile deviation 11 yrs
Body
No
r
2
2
u
17
5
11
10
1U
25
25
51
216
63
139
127
177
g 101
6 76
79 iooo
3 yrs
17 yrs
5H yrs
19 yrs
Chassis
Ho
T
16
16
nl
190
25 h
159
25U
63 100O
lg yrs
11 yrs
27 yrs
g yrs
1
1
7
12
16
10
16
Bodj
Chassis
Body
Ho
1
3
2
10
16
1U
g
T
Ho

16
16
Hg
32
159
25U
221
127
g 127
63 1000
23 yrs
lH yrs
33 yrs
10 yrs
1
2
3
10
U
7
5
32
31
63
9
312
125
219
156
1000
23 yrs
10 yrs
29 yrs
10 yrs
Ho
63
1
k
3
5
6
U
5
2
31
125
In6
187
125
156
63
32 1000
29 yrs
16 yrs
U9 yrs
17 yrs
Chassis
Ho
9 5 1
6 3 k
23 13 2
33 lg 9
H6 26 U
23 13 2
3 19 3
17U 1000
20 yrs
13 yrs
31 yrs
9 yrs
5
2
6
2U
10
26
32
32
21
16
17
28
16
hg
29
12
35
138
5g
1U9
183
183
121
92
1000
yrs
yrs
yrs
16 yrs
TABLE XVI
ANTICIPATED TOTAL LIFE OF CHASSIS AED BODIES 3 REKRTID BY EZ5OKDET3 TO THE UESTIONAIEES
Number of years
10 or more years
9 years
8 years
7 years
b years
5 years
years
No data
Total
Median
First quartile
Third quartiie
Quartile deviation
Public
Private
Point
All types
Chassis
Bo
9
15
13
11
11
5
l
lU
79
8H
69
95
6
11 U
190
165
139
139
63
13
177
1000
yrs
yrs
yes
yrs
Body
Chassis
Bory
Chassis
No
31
13
13
8
5
l
l
7
79
q6
392
lb5
165
101
63
13
13
89
1000
yrs
82 yrs
10k
H
yrs
yrs
No
7
12
6
3
1
16
63
82
71
95
7
No
111
1U3
lU3
190
95
KB
16
25 U
1000
yrs
yrs
yrs
yrs
302
111
190
1U3
127
16
16
95
1000
yrs
yrs
19
7
12
9
8
1
1
6
63
86
I
102 yrs
8 yrs
No
5
3
6
5
6
2
5
32
81
68
9H
7
eA
156
93
188
156
188
63
156
1000
yrs
yrs
yrs
yrs
Body
Chassis
No
No
6
11
5
5
H
18
3U
15
15
12
l 3
32 100
91 yrs
78 yrs
10S yrs
9 yrs
21
27
28
23
23
6
U
35
121
155
161
161
132
U6
23
201
17 1G0
ZZ yrs
69 yrs
95 yrs
yrs
Body
No
56
31
30
22
17
2
2
lU
17U
321
178
172
126
98
12
12
91
1000
jj
92 yrs
78 yrs
103 yrs
6 yrs
approximately 336 bus bodies and 367 chassis would have been purchased in
1944 to replace outworn equipment It is estimated that an additional replace
ment need for 735 chassis and 509 bodies will develop in Georgia during the
year 1945 The corresponding replacement needs for 1946 are estimated to be
as follows Chassis 526 bodies 509 The overall war production situa
tion now makes it seem likely that replacement needs for school transportation
equipment cannot possibly be met as rapidly as such needs develop It there
fore seems highly probable that by 1946 there would be an accumulated demand
for as many as 1628 chassis and 1354 bodies on the assumption that no pur
chases of equipment were made prior to that time During the biennium ending
June 30 1944 210 new or used busses were purchased by county boards of edu
cation If this same rate of replacement of outworn equipment continues dur
ing the next two years it is estimated that there will be a potential demand
for at least 1200 bodies and 1400 chassis by the end of 1946 provided that
such equipment is available for purchase by that date If appropriate legis
lation should make possible the replacement of the equipment through some
system of Statesupervised central purchasing on a discount basis it should
be possible to achieve significant economies in pupil transportation costs
and to divert the money thus saved to instructional or other purposes It is
estimated that a potential saving of not less than 500000 could be effected
in the purchase of equipment which will need replacement in 1946 provided that
such purchases were made under a system of central purchasing or contract
pricing The Southern States WorkConference on School Administrative Pro
blems in its 1940 bulletin entitled Pupil Transportation for the Southern
States reports savings of more than 800 per unit on equipment purchased
by the Franklin Couaty Board of Education in Alabama in 1940 Other instances
of savings effected through group purchasing while not as striking as the
44 one reported above indicate that the excess cost in the purchase price of
privately owned and operated equipment is a significant factor in determining
the amount of tax money expended for pupil transportation purposes
In addition to the immediacy of replacement needs for equipment atten
tion also should be given to the anticipated total life or longevity of equip
ment The data furnished toy respondents to the questionnaire indicate that the
estimated typical longevity of all types of chassis and bodies is 82 years and
92 years respectively It Is furthermore noted that roughly oneeighth of
the chassis and roughly onethird of the tous toodies will toe used for ten or
more years These estimates are somewhat higher than had been anticipated toy
the AllState Committee and protoatoly indicate that many of these pieces of
equipment are being used for much longer periods of time than sound principles
for safe and economical pupil transportation would justify
Comparisons of the relative longevity of equipment acoordiag to tjp
of ewnership indicate that privately owned chassis and bodies have a somewhat
shorter anticipated total life than do publicly owned chassis and toodies In
a study of the life expectancy of Alatoama tous toodies reported in Safety
and Economy in School Bus Transportation A E Meadows cites average life
expectancies as follows Allsteel toodies 106 years wood toodies 57
years composite toodies 85 years It reasonably nay In ssuaed that the
comparatively shorter life expectancy of privately owned lriiea in Georgia
is due in part to the fact that there is a considerably hig r proportion
of wooden toodies among privately owned equipment than uicly owned
equipment Since the daily roundtrip mileage and irvr nitoer of passen
gers transported toy privately and toy putolicly owned cnss tje atoout identical
in Georgia it should toe worthy of further detailed ii73 cation to deter
mine to what extent the relatively greater longevity ii pvtJcly owned equip
ment is due to superior maintenance practices or to other factors
45
a a
h c c

ii
t li
ifltlT
J
aar
r v J
i s7
j ij
a
I VP
u
i
rr
S
Three of the chief factors involved in the maintenance costs of
school transportation equipment are expenditures for repairs equipment and
supplies Since the average number of daily passengers transported and the
daily roundtrip mileage are almost identical for privately and publicly owned
busses direct comparisons of these three types of expenditures should provide
significant data on the relative operational costs of privately owned and
publicly owned equipment
Data cited in Table XVII indicate that the mean expenditure for repairs
by publicly owned busses was 16423 as compared with 12675 for privately
owned busses Stated differently the mean expenditure for repairs by pri
vately owned busses was only 77 percent as great as that for publicly owned
busses
As used in this chapter the term expenditure for equipment includes
the purchase of tires tubes and similar equipment It is probably safe to
assume that purchases Of equipment could not be as readily deferred as could
expenditures for repairs The mean expenditure for equipment by publicly
owned busses amounted to 8254 as compared with 8994 by privately owned
busses That is publicly owned busses spend only 92 percent as much per
bus for equipment as do privately owned busses
Two types of data are available for a comparison of publicly owned
and privately owned busses with respect to expenditures for supolies One
type of data refers to the method of purchasing commonly used supplies
Table XVIII The other type of data has to do with the mean expenditure per
bus for such supplies Table XVII Again it is noted that whereas the pas
senger loads and length of route of privately owned and publicly owned busses
are almost identical the average privately owned bus 28828 annually
expended 3016 more for supplies than did the average publicly owned bus
25812 That is publicly owned busses spent only 90 percent as much
46 fc
1 TABLE XVII
EXPELJDI TUBES FOE BEPAIBS EQUIPMENT AKD SUPPLIES AMONG BUSSES SAMPLED BY THE QUESTIOBNAIBE
Public Private k All types
Expenditures Ho of busses involved in calculations Mean 17 0 inv cal of busses olved in culations Mean Ho of busses involved in cnlculations Mean
Expenditures for repairs Expenditures for equipment Expenditures for supplies Expenditures for storage Cents per gallon regular gas Cents per gallon high test gas Cents per quart oil 79 74 76 79 75 16 75 16423 8254 25812 57 20 22 23 65 62 53 65 61 28 61 s 12675 8994 28828 22 24 28 177 167 156 177 I65 60 I65 s 14350 8438 26953 25 21 23 26
TABLE XVIII
MISCELLANEOUS FACTORS RELATED TO THE COST OF OPERATING SCHOOL BUSSES
Puhl No of Lc Priv No of ate No Joint of All types No of
Factors i busses involved Mean busses involved M ean busses involved Mean busses involved Mean
in calcu in cal cu ir calcu in calcu
lations lations lations lations
Sovnd trip mileage Miles without passengers Miles with passengers Miles from overnight station to first passenger 79 79 79 79 US2 33 U5O 10 6 65 65 65 H86 52 13h 17 16 33 3333 33 512 U2 471 10 177 177 177 177 hg9 U2 UUS 12
Miles from route end to overnight station 79 11 65 33 11 177 13 25 2870 1375 281
Mil es from school to bus day station Damage to bus Damage to property No of stops for passengers 79 76 23 29 H 65 65 23 281 33 29 33 2UU 177 k k 170
Public Privai e Joint All types
Ho i H56 Ulg No 11 33 i 169 508 No 5 22 1 i No
Busses Busses purchasing gas wholesale having only one load 36 33 152 667 52 88 29u H97
Busses having two loads 33 His 16 2U6 Q 273 61 58 328
Busses having three loads n 139 15 231 2 28 18
Busses having four loads 2 25 l 15 3 17 621
Busses having only one load to same school U3 51U U3 662 24 727 LIU
Busses having two loads to same school 26 329 16 2H6 7 212 Uy 6 277 34
Busses having three loads to same school 5 63 l 15
00per bus for supplied as did privately owned busses It is further noted that
the typical publicly owned bus paid 20 cents per gallon for regular gas as
compared with 22 cents by privately owned busses It is again noted that
publicly owned busses paid only 91 percent as much per gallon for regular
gas as did privately owned busses Likewise privately owned busses paid
two cents more per gallon for high test gas and five cents more per quart
for oil than did publicly owned busses The excess in cost of supplies pur
chased by privately owned busses as compared with publicly owned busses per
haps is due in part to differences in method of purchasing It is found
in Table XVIII that almost three times as many publicly owned busses 456
percent as privately owned busses 169 percent purchased gas at whole
sale rates In this connection it is worthy of comment that considerable
savings undoubtedly could be effected in the purchase of both supplies and
equipment through a system of central purchases or certified contract prices
under State supervision Obviously both privately owned and publicly owned
busses could operate more economically than at present under a policy of central
purchasing at discount rates
Miscellaneous Factors Related to Cost
In this subsection several miscellaneous factors related to opera
tional cost will be discussed briefly Table XVIII indicates that the mean
roundtrip mileage per bus reported by questionnaire respondents amounted to
489 miles Jointly owned busses had somewhat longer routes than privately
owned busses while the routes for publicly owned busses were only slightly
shorter than those for privately owned busses The reported differences in
overall mileage probably do not significantly affect comparisons made in
other sections of this report It is interesting to note however that
the mean number of miles driven without passengers by privately owned busses
is 52 miles as compared with 33 miles for publicly owned busses That is
it appears that the route schedules for publicly owned busses were planned
49 with somewhat greater efficiency in this respect than was true in the case of
privately owned busses This interpretation is substantiated in part by the
finding that the mean number of miles from overnight station to first passen
ger is 17 miles in the case of privately owned busses as compared with 10
miles for publicly owned busses A similar comparison likewise indicates that
the number of miles from route end to overnight station is onehalf mile
greater for privately owned busses than for publicly owned busses
It has been previously reported in Table III that when type of ownership
is disregarded it is found that the typical bus sampled transported a daily
total load of 72 passengers Jointly owned equipment has a mean passenger
load of 60 passengers as compared with 75 passengers for privately owned
busses and 76 passengers for publicly owned busses It will be noted in
Table XVIII that the number of passenger loads transported per bus varies
significantly with the type of bus ownership It is found for example
that roughly two out of three jointly owned busses have only one load whereas
four out of ten publicly owned busses and five out of ten privately owned
busses have only one load Nearly onefourth of the privately owned busses
have three passenger loads daily as compared with onesixteenth ef the jointly
owned busses and oneseventh of the publicly owned busses On the assumption
that the present sampling is typical of general conditions in the State it is
safe to assume that approximately 500 busses in the State transport three or
more loads of passengers daily When all types of busses are considered it
was found that six out of ten had only one load to the same school three out
of ten had two loads to the same achool and one out of thirty had three loads
to the same school There is a greater tendency for publicly owned busses
than for privately or jointly owned busses to have more than one load of pas
sengers to the same school
50j tAuthorities in the field of school transportation are inclined to the
view that when trusses transport three or more loads of passengers the com
forts and conveniences of passengers are likely to be seriously impaired Thus
it is seen that in addition to the normal replacement needs for equipment due
to deterioration there is also a potential demand for new equipment in order
to prevent the need for an excess number of loads of passengers by busses
The needs for new equipment for the purpose indicated should be added to the
replacement needs due to deterioration in order to secure an estimate of the
total number of chassis and bodies which need to be purchased in any given
year
It has been previously estimated that because of obsolescence approx
imately 1400 chassis and 1200 bodies are likely to need replacement during
the year 1946 and that a potential savings of 500000 could be effected
through a plan of group purchasing of such equipment It has also been pre
viously estimated that it would require 1934 additional busses to serve the
present bus routes if each bus were permitted to haul only one load of passen
gers If additional busses were purchased in sufficient numbers to provide a
separate bus for each load of pupils it is estimated that an additional
750000 could be saved through a system of group purchasing of such equipment
as compared with the prices usually paid by private operators
Of the 177 respondents to the questionnaire only four reported bus
damage due to accidents in the total amount of 1150 or an average of
28750 per bus damaged Table XVIII Pour of the 177 respondents reported
damage to other property in the amount of 55 or an average of 1375 per bus
On the assumption that the busses sampled were typical of all busses with
respect to the factors of damage to bus and damage to other property it may
be assumed that a total of 63 busses were damaged during 1944 in the amount of
1809463 Similarly it may be assumed that 63 busses were involved in
51 damage to other property in the amount of 86625 In view of the
data available in the State Patrol accident reports it seems reasonable
to assume that the busses sampled perhaps had fewer accidents and suffered
or inflicted less damage than might have been anticipated from a strictly
representative sample
52 CHAPTER VII
MISCELLANEOUS DATA ON SCHOOL TRANPSORTATION
There will be Included In this chapter of the report analyses of certain
types of data which did not appear to have sufficient pertinence for inclusion
in previous chapters They are included here for the benefit of the readers who
may wish to have access to complete data resulting from the study
Source of Driver Pay
When type of bus ownership is disregarded it Is found that 85 percent of
the drivers are paid by the county 12 percent are paid by the district and
3 percent are paid jointly by county and district It is of significance that
a higher percent of publicly owned busses 203 percent than of privately
62 percent or jointly owned busses 61 percent are paid by the district
Most authorities in the field of school transportation are in agreement that the
county should be the unit for the management and operation of pupil transportation
systems When the management and operation of transportation is left to indivi
dual school district there is a greater likelihood of overlapping of routes and
of other uneconomical practices
Hours Bus Driver Is on Duty
When type of bus ownership is disregarded it is found that the modal driver
is on driving duty 30 hours daily The variation in number of hours on duty is
worthy of comment For example it is found that 107 percent of the drivers are
on duty for two hours or less whereas 23 percent are on duty for ten hours or
more The median number of hours on duty for bus drivers according to type of
bus ownership is as follows Public 28 hours private 31 hours joint 30
hours
Bus Driver Employment
When all types of bus ownership are considered it is found in Table XX that
617 percent of the bus drivers are selfemployed during nondriving hours 102
percent work for a private employer 56 percent engage in other school work
53 TABLE XIX
HOURS BUS DRIVER IS ON CHIVING DUTY AS REPORTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Puhlic Private Joint All types
Hmirs bus driver on duty
No 2 No No 6p No k 23
10 or more hours 3 38 1 15
9 hours 1 15 1 7
E hours 2 61 2 11
7 hours 1 15 1 7
6 hours 1 13 1 15 1 30 3 17
5 hours 7 S8 8 123 3 91 18 102
U hours 23 291 23 355 10 303 56 315
3 hours 36 U56 22 339 15 5H 73 Uli
2 hours 9 111 S 133 2 61 19 107
1 hour
Ho data
Total 79 1000 65 1000 33 1000 177 1000
First qusEtile 23 2 2U 25
Median 22 31 30 30
Third auartile 36 38 38 37
Quartile deviatii 3h 7 7 7 6
1
TABLE XX
TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT OE BIS DRIVERS WHILE SOT OH IBIVIHG DUTY
Type of employment Public Private Joint A 11 typ 3S
No No No No
6 6 5 g 39 76 g 123 2 61 16 90
Ho data S tudent Teacher Other school work Selfemployed 76 63 101 liQ k 3 51 1000 1 1 1 U6 6 2 65 15 15 15 709 92 31 1000 3 0 1 2U 1 91 30 727 30 10 6 10 109 IS 56 3 56 6l7 102
Private employer Not otherwise emplc Total yed 11 k 79 2 33 61 1000 8 177 Kb 1000
56 percent are students 45 percent have no employment othat than bus driving
34 percent are employed as teachers and 90 percent of the drivers furnished no
data on type of additional employment When comparisons are made of driver em
ployment according to type of bus ownership it is found that the drivers of
publicly owned busses 494 percent are much less likely than the drivers of
privately owned busses 709 percent or the drivers of jointly owned busses
727 percent to be selfemployed during nondriving hours On the other hand
employment in other school work during nondriving hours is found much more fre
quently among the drivers of publicly owned busses 101 percent than among the
drivers of privately owned busses 15 percent or among the drivers of jointly
owned busses 30 percent In the same way employment as a teacher during non
driving hours occurs much more frequently among the drivers of publicly owned
busses 63 percent than among the drivers of privately owned busses 15 percent
No driver of a jointly owned bus was employed as a teacher The ratio of student
drivers was highest among jointly owned busses 91 percent next most frequently
found among publicly owned busses 76 percent and occurred least frequently
among privately owned busses 15 percent
Changes in Bus Routings
According to information furnished by the questionnaire respondents one out
of nine busses had a change in routing since the academic year 194344 Publicly
owned busses were slightly less likely than privately or jointly owned busses to
have had route changes The present data do not of themselves furnish a satis
factory explanation of these findings It should be noted however that school
officials who own and operate their equipment are at liberty to change routes
with relatively few complications in salary adjustments Experiences have shown
that contract operators are likely to demand increased pay for extra mileage
Authorities agree that route changes should be recommended by the principal and
such change should occur only Hien necessary
56 Manufacture of Chassis
When the type of ownership is disregarded school bus inspection data
Table XXI as well as the questionnaire data Table XXII indicate that the
several makes of chassis were used in the following order of decreasing frequency
Chevrolet Ford International Dodge and GMC Nine out of 20 chassis were
Chevrolets Approximately seven out of 20 chassis were Fords One out of 12 was
an International and about one out of 15 was a Dodge There was relatively little
variation in the rankorder popularity of different makes of chassis according
to type of ownership That is Chevrolets occurred more frequently than any other
type of chassis in each ownership category and Fords occurred second in popularity
in each category About eight out of ten chassis in operation were either Chevro
lets or Fords
Manufacture of Bodies
There is close agreement between the bus inspection data Table XXIlI arid
questionnaire data Table XXIV with respect to the relative popularity of dif
ferent makes of bus bodies When type of ownership is disregarded it is found
that approximately four out of ten bodies were Bluebirds two out of ten were
Waynes and one out of 11 was homemade There was relatively little difference
in the popularity of the remaining standard makes of bus bodies The discrepancy
in percentages quoted in Tables XXIIIand XXIV are mainly due to the fact that a
high proportion of the busses in the bus inspection records did not report the
manufacturer of the bus body It is of interest to note that according to the
questionnaire data Wayne bodies were used more than twice as frequently for publicly
owned equipment as for privately owned equipment The bus inspection data likewise
indicate that Wayne bodies are found more frequently among publicly oned busses
than among privately oned busses On the other hand Bluebird bodies were used
with considerably greater frequency for jointly owned busses than for publicly or
privately owned busses
57 wvTABLE XXI
lANUFACTURERS OF BUS CHASSIS ACCORDING TO BUS INSPECTION RECORDS
Manufacturer Public Private All types
of chassis
No No J No J
Chevrolet 377 408 564 464 982 438
Dodge 61 66 100 83 166 74
Ford 318 345 448 370 814 363
GMC 33 35 23 19 58 26
International 108 117 67 55 182 81
White 4 4 1 1 5 2
Others 13 14 7 6 22 10
Unknown 9 10 2 2 13 6
Total 923 1000 1212 1000 2242 1000
COTABLE XXII
MANUFACTURERS OF BUS CHASSIS AS REPORTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Manufacturer
of chassis
Chevrolet
Dodge
Ford
GMC
International
White
Others
Unlcnovm
Total
Public
Private
Ho
35
7
22
4
11
79
443
89
276
51
139
1000
No
32
3
26
T
65
492
46
440
62
1000
Joint
No
18
2
11
1
1
33
IT
546
61
333
30
30
1000
All types
No
85
12
59
5
16
177

481
68
333
28
90
1000
1
SOTABLE XXIII
MANUFACTURERS OF BUS BODIES ACCORDING TO BUS INSPECTION RECORDS
Manufacturer
of body
Blue Bird
Carpenter
Hackney
Rock Hill
Superior
Thomas
Wayne
Others
Homemade
Unknown
Total
No
220
1
30
36
15
6
163
11
19
422
923
Public
of
7
239
1
33
39
16
7
177
12
21
455
1000
Private
No
211
1
56
32
22
11
178
63
126
412
1212
All types
No
257 562
1 2
46 90
26 70
18 41
9 17
147 365
52 74
104 145
340 876
1000 2242
251
1
40
31
18
8
163
33
66
390
1000
ITABLE XXIV
MANUFACTURERS OF BUS BODIES AS REPORTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Manufacturer Public Private Joint All types
of body
No t No No 15 7 454 No
Blue Bird 29 367 25 385 69 390
Carpenter
Hackney 6 76 3 46 9 51
Rock Hill 5 63 4 62 1 30 10 56
Superior 5 63 4 62 1 30 10 56
Thomas 2 25 2 61 4 23
Wayne 25 317 9 138 6 182 40 227
Other s 9 138 5 152 14 78
Homemade 3 38 10 154 3 91 16 90
Unknown 4 51 1 15 5 28
Total 79 1000 65 1000 33 1000 177 1000
On
HDays Nonoperative
When type of ownership is disregarded the average bus was found to have
been nonoperative for 26 days because of needed repairs Privately owned busses
were nonoperative for 17 days as compared with 34 days for publicly owned busses
and 25 days for jointly owned and operated busses In view of the findings re
ported in other chapters of this report which appear to indicate that publicly
owned busses were more likely than privately owned busses to have equipment in
good repair and to practice sound policies of operation the fact that publicly
owned busses were nonoperative for needed repairs for a greater period of time
than were privately owned busses would seem to require comment One possible in
terpretation of this finding is that the county is more likely than the individual
private operator to have auxiliary equipment which can be substituted for service
in the event minor repairs are needed Also many county systems have policies for
periodic inspections of busses as a part of a preventive maintenance program and
thus become familiar with the need for repairs at an earlier date than do the
private operators
Interest of the Respondents in the Report on the Findings
As a device for determining the extent to which school bus drivers and
county school superintendents were interested in securing detailed information
concerning school transportation problems in Georgia the AllState Committee
included in the questionnaire an item requesting the respondent to indicate whether
or not he desired to receive a detailed report on the findings One hundred forty
eight of the 177 respondents or 84 percent specifically requested that they be
furnished such a report Five percent indicated definitely that they did not de
sire a copy of the report and 11 percent did not mark the item either way The
percentage of request for the report according to type of bu ownership were
as follows Joint 94 percent public 84 percent and private 79 percent
62 i i v 4 Chapter VIII
MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF
SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION IN GEORGIA
Chapters IIIVII inclusive have been concerned mainly with the
presentation and interpretation of data dealing with the present status of
certain aspects of school transportation in Georgia It is the purpose of
the present chapter to present suggestions and comments which it is hoped
may be useful to school officials responsible for improvements in the safety
convenience and economy of school transportation systems For the most
part no attempt has been made to cite detailed evidence or authority in sup
port of the suggestions made It is believed however that the assertions
made are in keeping with the best available data or are consistent with the
best thought and practice concerning pupil transportation For convenience
of the reader the various comments are grouped under the following sub
heads Legal Responsibility for School Transportation Programs Ownership
of Equipment Maintenance of Equipment School Bus Routings Selection and
Training of Drivers Records and Reports and Safety Regulations and Practices
Legal Responsibility for School Transportation Programs
County boards of education should assume major responsibility for
planning the type of transportation program which will best meet local needs
There are good reasons however why minimum standards should be prescribed
by the State governing policies of local operation in order to insure minimum
standards of safety convenience and economy It is obvious that a careful
and detailed study of local conditions and needs will be necessary in order
to plan effectively for an adequate transportation program Whenever such
help is needed it should be possible for local school officials to secure
technical assistance from the State Department of Education andor from
teacher training institutions in making studies of local transportation pro
63 blems The State Department of Education should from time to time conduct
comprehensive statewide studies of school transportation as a basis for plan
ning at the State level
Ownership of Equipment
The best evidence available appears to indicate that public ownership
of transportation equipment in most situations is more economical and more
easily adjusted to meet changing needs than is private ownership Obviously
public ownership alone does not insure an adequate system of management
Some county school systems have selected busses which were either too large or
too small and have thus unnecessarily increased the expenses of transportation
The AllState Committee on Pupil Transportation is of the opinion that for
most types of situations public ownership and operation of transportation faci
lities is to be preferred
Maintenance of Equipment
Authorities in the field of school transportation are stressing more
and more the importance of adequate policies for the maintenance of transporta
tion equipment as the means of insuring greater safety and economy in pupil
transportation Problems of maintenance have become increasingly difficult
as a result of warrelated conditions It is very difficult to purchase new
busses trained mechanics are extremely scarce and many types of repair
parts are extremely difficult to obtain
The following suggestions are offered concerning policies and pro
cedures which should be helpful in working a sound plan for the maintenance
of equipmentJ
1 Local school officials responsible for transportation pro
grams should plan specifically to use the summer vacation
64 to get all busses in good operating condition for the next
school year
2 The advisability of arranging with county highway shops
for reconditioning bus equipment should he investigated
Once the program for the State and Area trade schools
has been established it should he possible to utilize
these schools for reconditioning and maintenance of bus
equipment located in their respective localities
3 The necessity for anticipating insofar as possible the
needs for school bus repair parts should be emphasized
to all persons responsible for school transportation
In some sections of the State several days are now re
quired to secure certain parts thus interrupting the
service of the bus
4 During aonschool months follow sound procedure in the
maintenance and servicing of busses especially tires
batteries carburetors and upholstering
As a result of conservation policies brought about by the ODT War
time Conservation Program many school systems have revised bus routes and
schedules with significant economies in operation The savings effected
have been available to increase drivers salaries and for other educational
purposes It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the prime factor
in the low cost of school transportation is the care given vehicles by
drivers and mechanics
Automotive engineers hold that a properly maintained school bus
should operate for as much as 200000 miles and should have a total life
for most types of routes of nearly twenty years It is understood of
course that certain fastmoving parts tires and batteries would need
replacement from time to time In normal times a properly maintained all
steel body on an average length route will become obsolete before wearing
out Authorities in the field of school transportation generally recommend
that when busses are county owned one or more central garages with competent
mechanics will be necessary if there are as many as twenty busses School
systems with only a few busses may find it profitable to make arrangements
65 with adjoining school systems for a program of supply and maintenance
There is a recent trend to utilize bus drivers for schoolplant maintenance
positions
School Bus Routings
Because of the many complicated factors involved it is extremely
difficult to obtain maximum efficiency in routing school busses and it is
impossible to formulate any set hard and fast regulations which are uni
formly applicable under all circumstances To avoid overcrowding or un
used seats the size of busses should be adjusted to the number of passen
gers on the route All roads should be maintained in passable condition
at all times and kept as free as possible from hazards School routes
should radiate from the school center to the most populated parts of the
attendance area bo as to avoid retraces on long shoestring routes
Wherever possible drivers who live at or near the end of the route and
who stay at or near the school between trips should be employed When
circular routes are possible the bus and driver should be located near
the school School patrons should understand the problems involved in bus
routing and should be willing except under unusually hazardous conditions
for their children to walk reasonable distances to the bus line
That a considerable amount of needless overlapping in routing is
commonly practiced is revealed by data available in the files of the State
Department of Education which show that an average decrease of 11 percent
in the mileage of school busses in Georgia resulted from regulations imposed
by the Office of Defense Transportation In some of the counties presumably
in the ones having the least effective routing policies the amount of mi
leage saved as a result of the ODT regulations was several times this amount
While school authorities should not attempt to grossly reduce the amount of
mileage at the expense of the safety and convenience of passengers it is be
66lieved that the typical county transportation system in Georgia could be
so planned as to permit considerable reduction in overall mileage at no
appreciable risk to the safety and comfort of passengers
Selection and Training of Drivers
Since no school bus is safer than the driver operating it it is ob
vious that one of the chief problems involved in the safety and economy of
school bus operation is that of selecting and training drivers The most
QBSential qualifications of a school bus driver appear to be reliability
mechanical aptitude training and experience in handling large vehicles
ability to deal satisfactorily with children and patrons physical fitness
and good moral character Most authorities recommend that rigid physical
examinations should be given annually and periodic tests of driving skills
should be administered by a member of the State Highway Patrol Drivers
should have sufficient mechanical training to make minor repairs and adjust
ments and to recognize symptoms in the operation of busses indicating the
need for preventive maintenance
In several neighboring states and in twelve Georgia counties
school officials in cooperation with the State Department of Education
the Bepartment of Public Safety and the American Automobile Association
have initiated driver training programs as a means of safeguarding and as
suring better maintenance of equipment The greatly increased turnover of
school transportation personnel has greatly increased the need for inservice
training programs of the type indicated As an illustration of the economies
which can be effected through an adequate program of inservice training pro
grams of the type indicated As an illustration of the economies which can
be effected through an adequate program of inservice training of bus dri
vers as related to problems of preventive maintenance the following data
67 are cited froin Chilton County Alabama
The Supervisor of School Transportation furnishes instruc
tions to drivers concerning the care of busses and sees to it
that all busses are adequately lubricated that the cooling
system functions properly and that all parts of each bus are
maintained at all times He started out with very little main
tenance equipment and procured additional equipment only as
needed To date he has spent ever 90 percent of his time on
preventive maintenance and in so doing has saved his time and
the busses from emergency repairs which would have accrued
without the preventive maintenance progratu This maintenance
schedule has contributed to safety and economy in school trans
portation and to more efficient school program operation
through adherence to school bus schedules The average yearly
expenditure including depreciation for a throeyear period
193740 before the program was inaugurated was 37101 as
compared with an average yearly expenditure of 29305 for the
period 194043 or a decrease of 21 percent This represents
an average yearly saving of 7796 for the three yearperiod
It is furthermore to be noted that the econonies effected by this
program are cumulative the savings increasing each successive
year After the first year of the maintenance program a central
shop was provided During the period schools are in session
busses are given thorough inspection each month The chassis
are lubricated air cleaners and oil filters checked and ser
viced where needed oil changed if needed and every battery
washed on the outside the condition checked and water added
to the cells
That this program is effective is evidenced by the fact
that 14 of the original 45 batteries started the fourth year of
service In addition to this monthly inspection every bus is
checked at least weekly All busses are brought to the central
garage for a summer repair program The first repair job is
that of thoroughly washing every motor Repairs are planned
so that every bus is moved every few days The motor on every
bus is worked first The brakes wheel bearings and axles
are checked and repaired on the second trip through the garage
Other units receive attention in order of importance This
rotating system serves to prevent many of the troubles exper
ienced by other school officials who move busses less often
during summer months Busses which are not moved during the
summer are likely to develop such difficulties as a sticking
pistons b clutches c corrosion and gum in carburetors
d cracked fuel pump diaphragms and e pitted ring gear
pinion gear and bearings the latter due to condensation of
moisture within the differential
In the past not enough attention has been paid to the careful selec
tion of bus drivers This statement is applicable to both publicly and privately
68 owned busses It is unfortunate that in a number of Georgia counties school
bus drivers have been employed on the basis of personal or political con
siderations rather than on the basis of qualifications On the other hand
school systems cannot afford to hire competent drivers who on the average
work only two or three hours per day There is a favorable recent innova
tion to employ bus drivers with qualifications for other types of school
employmentschool maintenance bus maintenance shop teachers food
processing units and others During the war emergency school systems
have employed more teachers and students as bus drivers than formerly The
experience of North Carolina in the use of student drivers merits the careful
attention of school transportation officials in Georgia It is reported
that the use of student drivers in North Carolina has not only made possible
significant economies in the operational costs of school busses but has also
resulted in an excellent record of pupil safety and satisfaction Obviously
the same qualifications should be required of students and teachers as for
any other drivers Only mature pupils should be used as drivers and then
only after they have been carefully selected and trained The Georgia Law
requires that all vehicle operators employed for hire must have a chauffeurs
license At the time the Department of Public Safety was established all
persons of legal age with driving experience were granted licenses without
a test for driving skills Considering the present age of school bus dri
vers and the recency of the law it is obvious that most school bus drivers
in Georgia have never had a test for driving skills It is now possible
for an individual holding an operators license to secure a chauffeurs license
upon application and by payment of a 200 fee It is the judgment of the
AllState Committee that all school bus drivers should be required to take
periodic tests for driving skills administered by a meuber of the Georgia
69 State Patrol The committee is also of the opinion that a special chauffews
license should be issued to school bus drivers based upon a more rigid test
of driving skills than is required of drivers of nonpassenger vehicles
Records and Reports
As in all other phases of school administration and management it is
highly desirable that complete and accurate records and reports should be
maintained for each bus operated Such records are necessary for an intelli
gent evaluation of service and are needed at both the county and the State
level The use of uniform record and report forms would permit a comparison
of the relative operating efficiency of different transportation systems It
is not the function of this report to recommend in detail the type of records
or reports which should be required It is believed however that an ade
quate system of records and reports should include information on the follow
ing topics
1 School transportation personnel regular or substitute dri
vers mechanics supervisors of transportation etc
2 Expenditures salaries purchase co3t of equipment in
surance depreciation debt service maintenance costs
supplies equipment repairs storage etc
3 Service data inventory of equipment route maps route
mileage schools served number of children transported
number and location of pupil shelters safety practices
inspection of equipment etc
All record and report forms provided for school bus operators and
directors of transportation should be brief and simple Reports of individual
drivers should be submitted to the principal of the school The complete
transportation records for each school should accompany other monthly records
to the office of the county superintendent of schools The State Department
of Education should make available to county superintendents of schools record
and report forms nicely adjusted to school transportation needs in Georgia
70 Safety Regulations and Practices
It is generally recognized that the three principal factors determin
ing the safety of pupil transportation are l The use of safe equipment
2 the skill of the driver and 3 the condition of roads Each of
these three prime factors in turn depends on a variety of circumstances As
has been pointed out previously it is important that the school bus driver
should not only possess the skills involved in managing the bus but should
also be concerned with the rights and safety of school children motorists
and pedestrians Most of the states including Georgia require motorists
to stop while children get on and off school busses It perhaps would be de
sirable for all bus drivers to meet monthly or at periodic intervals to
discuss problems of safety
In addition to the inspection of equipment by the State Patrol
local arrangements should be made for regular and periodic inspection of bus
equipment by competent mechanics or supervisors of school transportation
In planning bus routes careful attention should be paid to the location
of bus stops in order to avoid unnecessary hazards Special attention
should be given by bus drivers to the hazards involved in highway crossings
It is obvious that maximum safety of school bus operation can be best obtained
when parents children bus drivers and supervising principals cooperate
in every possible way to prevent accidents
71 CHAPTER IX
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
It has been the purpose of the present investigation to present a fairly
detailed factual picture of present conditions in Georgia as related to selected
problems in the field of pupil transportation and to offer certain suggestions
relative to ways and means of improving the safety convenience and economy of
school transportation in the State The analyses presented in preceeding chapters
have been based on data obtained from one or more of the following sources
1 Detailed information concerning 179 specific individual
busses in use during the year 194344 representing a weighted
random sample of all publicly and privately owned busses
operating during that year
2 School bus inspection records on 2242 busses inspected by
the State Patrol in 1943 or approximately 78 percent of
all busses operating during that year
3 State Department of Public Safety records on school bus
accidents in 1943 and 1944
4 Reports from State Departments of Education the U S
Office of Education and certain published and unpublished
literature on pupil transportation
It is the function of the present chapter to summarize the most significant
findings reported in the preceeding chapters and to offer certain recommendations
concerning improvements in the safety convenience and economy of pupil transpor
tation in Georgia For the convenience of the reader these summarized findings
are arranged under topical headings
Safety
That school bus equipment in Georgia is seriously defective with respect to
many features of bus construction and operation is evidenced by the following
findings t
1 Only three out of four school busses had allsteel bodies
2 One out of five school busses did not have safety glass in
the windshield and one out of three busses did not have
safety glass in windows and doors
72 3 One out of 20 school busses did not have rear emergency
doors and an additional 10 percent of busses had rear
emergency doors which did not meet safety standards
4 One out of 34 busses inspected had a defective clutch
and one out of 39 had defective wheel alignment
5 One out of 49 busses had a gasoline leakage
6 One out of 83 busses was reported to have defective
axles springs or shackles
7 One out of seven busses inspected had defective head
lights one out of four had a defective tail light one
out of three had a defective stop light two out of three
lacked adequate spare bulbs and fuses and one out of
seven had improperly focused headlights
8 One out of 11 busses lacked a windshield wiper and one
out of eight additional busses had a defective wiper
9 State Patrol school bus inspection reports revealed that
lack of windshield wipers was an important contributing
factor to serious accidents
10 Only seven out of ten school busses had either hydraulic
or air brakes
11 One out of 11 busses had defective foot brakes and three
out of ten hand brakes were in a defective condition
12 State Patrol school bus accident reports indicated that
defective brakes were a significant contributing factor
to serious accidents
13 One out of nine busses had one or more defective tires
14 Four out of ten busses had defective exhausts and one
out of seven busses released dangerous fumes
15 One out of 20 busses had defective rear visibility
and one out of 83 had defective front visibility
16 Six out of ten busses were without useful mechanical stop
signals
17 One out of 12 busses did not meet specifications of the
State law with respect to school bus signs
18 Three out of four busses were not equipped with o satisfactory
first aid kit
19 Only one out of five busses had fire extinguishers and
threefourths of these nere in defective condition
73 20 Only one out of four busses was equipped with satisfactory
flares and flags
21 One out of six busses had one or more dangerous stops
22 The typical school bus in 1944 carried a passenger load at
least 50 percent greater than its rated seating capacity
23 The State Patrol school bus accident reports revealed that
a good many drivers of Georgia school busses lacked proper
qualifications
24 The recorded violations by school bus drivers included
Making a turn or stop without proper signals improper
supervision of pupil loading and unloading reckless driv
ing drunkenness lack of a chauffeurs license lack
of a bus license etc
That pupils transported by privately owned busses were generally
subjected to greater safety hazards than were pupils transported by pu
blicly owned busses is revealed by such comparisons as the following
1 Homemade bodies occurred more than four times as frequently
among privately owned busses as among publicly owned blisses
2 Three timesas many privately owned busses as publicly owned
busses had safety glass in defective condition
3 Lack of an emergency door occurred more than twice as fre
quently among privately owned busses as among publicly
owned busses
4 Defective windshield wipers occurred more than three times
as frequently among privately owned busses as among publicly
owned busses
5 Lack of hydraulic or air brakes occurred almost twice as
frequently among privately owned busses as among publicly
owned busses
6 Privately owned busses were almost twice as likely as publi
cly owned busses to have more than one defective tire
7 Defective wheel alignment occurred four times as frequently
among publicly owned busses as among privately owned busses
8 Unsatisfactory ratings on sanitary conditions occurred four
times as frequently among privately owned busses as among
publicly owned busses
9 Publicly owned busses were more than twice as likely a
privately owned busses to be equipped with satisfactory fire
extinguishers
7410 Privately owned busses were more than twice as likely
as publicly owned busses to violate legal regulations
concerning school bus signs
11 Routes served by privately owned busses were slightly
nore likely than routes served by publicly owned busses
to have one or more dangerous stops on the route and
the number of such stops per route was somewhat greater
for privately owned busses than for publicly oned bus
ses
Insurance
That present practices with respect to school bus insurance in Georgia are
inadequate and in need of revision is revealed by data such as the following
1 Although the State admits no liability with respect to
school bus accidents onethird of the busses sampled
carried one or more types of insurance coverage
2 The collections for damages incurred amounted to only a
small fraction of the money expended for insurance coverage
For example three dollars was expended on liability pre
miums for each cent collected from liability claims Although
a good many busses carried collision and fire coverage among
the busses sampled there were no collections reported for
collision or fire damages
3 The neighboring states of Alabama and North Carolina have
assumed the direct moral and financial responsibility of
reimbursing the family up to 600 for expenses due to
injuries resulting from school bus accidents through an
appropriate State agency It is held that the reimburse
ments paid by these agencies have been economical of the
taxpayers money by providing a maximum coverage at a mini
mum cost and have allowed the State to assume a rightful
moral obligation rdth a minimum expenditure of public funds
Pupil Health and Convenience
That as presently operated pupil transportation systems in Georgia do not
provide sufficiently for the health and convenience of pupils particularly at
younger age levels is shown by the following findings
1 The typical child transported to and from school left
home about 7t30 in the morning and returned to his home
about 430 in the afternoon Some pupils leave home
before 6 A M and return home later than 6 P M
75 2 The typical passenger spent about one hour on a bus daily
he had to wait 24 minutes after bus arrival for school to
open and had to wait 18 minutes after school was dismissed
in order to catch a bus Some pupils spend more than three
hours daily on the bus In some instances pupils had to
wait as much as 15 hours for school to open and an equal
amount of time after school to mount the bus
3 It is probable that because of faulty transportation
practices pupils were subjected to inconveniences and
strains which seriously interfered with their educational
experiences and home duties and adjustments
4 It would require an additional 1934 busses to provide
enough equipment so that no bus would transport more than
one load of pupils to and from school daily
5 Only one out of six busses was equipped with a heater
6 The typical bus carried at least 50 percent more passengers
than its rated seating capacity and many busses carried more
than twice as many passengers as their rated seating capa
city
7 One bus body out of 12 was homemade Many of these bodies
lacked proper emergency doors weatherproof tops windows
etc
The extent to which adequate provisions are made for pupil health and
convenience varies with type of bus ownership In some respects privately
owned busses compared favorably with publicly owned busses although the reverse
was usually the case as is indicated by such comparisons as the following
1 Publicly owned busses were more likely than privately owned
busses to make special adjustments in routing to accommodate
handicapped passengers
2 Publicly owned busses were more likely than privately oned
busses to admit passengers near the school
3 Homemade bodies occurred almost four tines as frequently among
privately owned busses as among publicly owned busses
4 Privately owned busses had a considerably higher index of
overloading than did publicly owned busses
Factors Related to Cost
That many opportunities exist for improving the economy in the purchase and
the operation of all types of school busses in Georgia is evidenced by the follow
ing findingst
76 1 Variations in prices paid by different buyers for identical
pieces of standard equipment eg 192 standard chassis by
given manufacturer was often excessive and indicates that
in some instances public money was expended uneconomically
2 There was also a wide variation in prices paid by different
buyers for identical types of supplies For example certain
busses regularly paid from two to three cents a gallon higher
price for regular or high test gas and five cents more per
quart for oil than did other busses in the same locality
3 Comparisons of prices paid for standard equipment in Georgia
and in comparable southern states indicate that present
practices of purchasing equipment in Georgia are less economi
cal than in these states For example North Carolina Alabama
and Mississippi are purchasing busses comparable to those used
in Georgia at prices from 200 to 500 cheaper per unit than
prices in this State These economies are made possible through
a system of central purchasing or contract pricing under State
supervision
That a vast reservior of need is being developed for new equipment to re
place outworn equipment and to supplement overused equipment and that appro
priate 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 warranted by the following findings
1 Had they been available 336 bodies and 367 chassis would
have been purchased in 1944 to replace outworn equipment
2 During the year 1945 there is estimated to be an additional
replacement need in Georgia for 735 chassis and 509 bodies
3 The overall war production 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 1628 chassis and
1354 bodies for replacement purposes alone assuming no
increase in the total number of busses required to serve
present routes
The types of evidence presented in the comparisons summarized below appear
to indicate that publicly owned busses compare favorably with privately ovmed
busses with respect to sound policies of economical operation and maintenance
1 Publicly owned chassis were purchased at a considerably greater
saving over the list price than were privately owned chassis
although the former provided a greater number of safety and
convenience features than did the latter
77 2 The cost per bus mile as well as the cost per pupil
transported was greater for privately owned and jointly
owned busses than for publicly owned busses A saving
of approximately 250000 could have been effected in
192 in the operating costs of busses if children trans
ported by privately owned equipment had been transported
by publicly owned equipment
3 The typical publicly ovned chassis and body rail not
need replacement so soon as will the typical privately
omed chassis and body
A The anticipated total life of publicly ovmed chassis
and bodies was somewhat longer than that of privately
owned chassis and bodies
5 Publicly owned busses spent only 92 percent as much
per bus for equipment as did privately owned busses
6 The typical publicly owned bus spent only 90 percent
as much per bus mile for supplies as did the typical
privately owned bus
7 The typical publicly owned bus paid 20 cents per
gallon for regular gas as compared with 22 cents by
the typical privately opined bus
8 Almost three times as many publicly omed busses as
privately owned busses purchased gas at wholesale
rates
9 The mean number of miles driven vdthout passengers
was almost twice as great for privately owned busses
as for publicly owned busses
10 The typical privately owned bus annually expended
1016 more for supplies than did the average pub
licly owned bus
11 Several types of evidence indicate that the route
schedules for publicly owied busses were in some
instances planned with somewhat greater efficiency
than were those of privately owned busses
Recommendations
In view of the findings summarized in previous chapters of this report it
is the judgment of the Education Panel of the Agricultural and Industrial Develop
ment Board thati
1 The responsibility of providing transportation services
for the schools of the county should be vested in the county
board of education
m 78 3
2 In order to promote greater economy and safety in school
transportation provisions should be made thereby school
transportationequipment and supplies may be bought through
a system of central purchasing or contract pricing
The State Board of Education should be empowered to adopt
rules and regulations to provide for uniformity economy
and safety in the operation of school busses the quali
ftcation of school bus drivers minimum specifications for
school bus equipment the contract between county boards of
education and school bus drivers and the procedure to be
followed by county boards of education in securing means of
school bus transportation
A No member of the State Board of Education or employee of
L Wat Denartment of Education or county superintendent
or schools of Member of a county board of education should
De facially interested in providing means or facilities
for Stool bus transportation or in selling transportation
equipmentor supplies to county boards of education
5 The State Purchasing Department should bemPoweion
authority to act as the agent of county boards of education
Z the ourchasing of school bus equipment and school bus
Applies accordance with minimum specifications for sup
plies and equipment prescribed by the State Board of Educa
fioT specifications prescribed by the State Board
of Education should serve as a basis for fJ
and as a means of insuring reasonable standards of safety in
ne construtKon of equipment County boards of ucatxon
should be permitted to purchase equipment which exceeds the
minium specifications prescribed by the State Board of Edu
cation
6 The AllState Committee on Pupil Transportation is opposed
to legislation which would make the State or county liable
in case of bus accidents but recognizes a moral obligation
on the part of boards of education to provide minimum hospi
talSatiofand medical benefits for children inured in school
bus accidents The AllState Committee recommends that an
appropriate Sate agency be authorized to provide for the re
imbursement of expenses up to a maximum of 600 incurred as
a result of injuries due to school bus accidents
7 Counties with 20 or more publicly owned and operated busses
should establish their own shops for the maintenance and re
Sir of equipment Area trade schools with auto shops could
conveniently furnish minimum maintenance and repair services
for publicly owned busses in the immediate vicinity
8 The State Board of Education in adopting policies and regula
Sons for the operation of school busses should base such
Slicies on the findings resulting from carefully conducted
studies in this field including the judgments and experiences
of county superintendents of schools in Georgia
79 9 The State Department of Education and the State Department
of Public Safety in cooperation with the county superin
tendents of schools should sponsor periodic safety con
ferences for the inservice training of bis operators The
need for such safety conferences and for inservice driver
training has become increasingly acute during the war as a
result of the large turnover in driver personnel It is
recommended that the bus operators of a county should be
required to attend at least one safety conference each year
10 The State Department of Education should have sufficient
trained personnel to provide county boards of education with
consultant services concerning an everincreasing number of
problems in the field of pupil transportation This per
sonnel should be available on request to assistant county
school authorities in connection with such transportation
problems as the followingi Purchasing transportation
equipment and supplies bus routing and scheduling selec
tion and training of drivers formulation of rules and
regulations for school bus operation preventive maintenance
programs and records and reports
80 APPENDIX A
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PUPIL TRANSPORTATION STUDYCounty
QUESTIOFHAIRE POR PUPIL TRANSPORTATION STUDY
School Bias No Route No
Name of Driver
Address of Driver
This questionnaire was prepared and is being distributed by an official State
Committee on Pupil Transportation The dota obtained will be used as a basis for
recommending legislation concerning school transportation The Committee request
that complete information be furnished on all of the items and it pledges that the
information furnished will not be used by the State Department of Education or the
Office of Defense Transportation to check up on you or penalize you Please return
this questionnaire within the next ten days to tie committee member from whom you
received it
Most of the requested information can be given quickly by checking the blanks
that apply to this particular bus A few items call for writing in numerical data
or other information Wherever it is not possible to give exact information on this
bus give the best possible approximationUse fractions if necessary to give accu
rate information
Each person who furnished information will be given on request a report on
the general findings of the study
I Do you wish to receive a copy of the general report on this study
Yes Ho
3 Chassis Year made
Purchase price
percent
Manufacturer
List price
Wheel base
inches Annual depreciation
3 This chassis will need be replaced with new equipment
years from now
Manufacturer
Length
4 Body Year made
purchase price
percent
5 This body will need to be replaced with new equipment
List price
inches Annual depreciation
years from now
6 Construction check all items which apply to this busa all steel body
b safety glass in windshield c safety glass in
windows d safety glass in doors o air or hydraulic
brakes f rear emergency door
i first aid kit
h bumpers
k heater
g windshield wiper
j fire extinguisher
7 llumber of days during past school year when this bus did not operate
because of needed repairs of equipment days
8 Total amount spent on this bus during past school year for a repair
services b equipment tire tubes etc c supplies
gas oil etc d Storage of bus
9 Indicate usual price paid for fee following supplies a regular gas
cents per gal b hightest gascents per gal c oilcents
per quart2
10 Indicate usual method of purchasing gaej a wholesale bulk purchase
b retail at local filling station
11 Monthly salary paid the driver of Ms bus publicly owned buses only
per month
12 Monthly contract salary for operating this bus privately or jointly owed
equipment
13 Average number of hours each school day this bus driver is actually on duty
ie drivingrepairing or serving bus hours per day
14 Is the driver of this bus employed during school hours a student
b teacherc other school work d working for self
e working for private employer
15 Total number of pupils and school employees injured during past school
year enroute to or from school on this bus miner injuries
major injuries fatal injuries
16 Has bus had an accident during the past school year Yes Ho
If so indicate amount of damage to this bus to other property

17 Is this bus covered by any type of Insurance YesNo
If so fill in items 18 19 20
18 Amount of coverage for different kinds of insurance policies on bus
ie maximum amount for which insurance company could be held liable
a total liability one accident btotal liability one
passenger c property damage d collision
e fire f theft
19 Annual premiums paid on each type of insurance a liability
b property damage c collision d fire
e theft
20 Amount collected during past school year on each type of insurance a
liability b property damage c collision
d fire e theft
21 Number of stops from origin of route first passenger in morning to last
school served on morning trip Total number of stops
22 What is the shortest distance between adjacent bus stops a 100yds
b 18 mile c mile d mile e1 mile
23 Total daily round trip mileage from point where bus is stationed over
night miles
24 Total number of miles bus travels daily without passengers
25 Total number of miles bus travels daily with passengers
miles
miles
26 Longest amount of time any pupil spends on bus daily round trip
mi nut e s
27 Shortest amount of time any pupil spends on bus daily round trip
minutes
28 Indicate by checking the distance between last bus stop in the morning
1 i II 1 A nilo
and the school first served
2 miles
Jtnile
1 mile
l nile
29 Usual tine of day when first passenger mounts bus in morning
30
A M
31
How many minutes do the children first transported to school wait after
arrival for the school to open minutes
How many minutes do the children last transported from school have to
wait after school for a bus minutes
32 Usual time of day when last passenger leaves bus in afternoon
33
PM
Longest distance any passenger must walk from home to mount school bus
miles
34 Number of miles from place where bus is stationed over night to place
where first pupil mounts bus in morning uiles
35 Number of miles from end of the route point where 5st pupil leaves
bus in the afternoon to point where bus is stationed overnightmiles
36 Numbec of miles one way from school to place where bus is parked during
school hours miles
37 Number of physicallyhandicapped teachers and pupils vfao ride bus
handicapped persons If any how nan extra miles per day of
bus travel is required to serve them miles
38 How many children served by this bus are transported from their home to the
bus route by private conveyance auto truck buggy etc children
39 In your judgement are there bus stops at dangerous or hazardous places
Yes2IoIf so how many
40 The driver or contractor is paid by County Board of Education
by district trustees
41 Age of driver
42
vears
Number of load of children this bus transports to school each morning
Greatest number of loads transported to a single scaool
43 Number of pupils and school employees served by this bus on all trips
44 Number of school days this bus operated last school year
45 Number of pupils and school employees transported oach morning on first
load 2nd loadif any 3rd load If any
46 Has the route cf this bus been changed since the G D I report on it
was made Yes No If so attauh a chart of present
routing mVERS7
APPENDIX B
GEORGIA STATE PATROL SCHOOL BUS INSPECTION FORMSi