One might think, that the subway, or regular buses, might in their own way, hold their own against school buses in the sense of how many people utilize them each day; but the reality is that school buses as reported by newgeography.com, “…is 2.5 times the size of all other forms of mass transportation combined,” of which it is estimated that there are nearly ½ million school buses in usage, that transport well over 25 million students to school and back, each and every school day.
The sheer size of those numbers, would seem to indicate that this form of transportation, is something that should be carefully studied and look at from not only an expense, reliability, accessories, and efficiency standpoint, but also in regards to a safety standpoint. After all, the safety of our children is of paramount importance to parents, in addition to the salient fact that the more efficient and reliable that transportation is for those students, the better experience that it is going to be, overall.
Certainly, one of the things that transportation of any type needs to take into proper account, is the overall traffic density at different times of the day; of which, it so follows that certain time windows may be more efficient or less efficient than others. Another factor to take into account, is the seating capacity of a given bus, of which, it is assumed that having a certain seating capacity, such as around 70 students, is the most appropriate number; but in reality, that number might need to be lower or higher, depending upon the density of the residences, and whether a given area is urban or rural, amongst other assorted factors. So too, the amount of stops that a bus makes to pick up students, and the overall route that the bus takes to do so, is obviously of relevancy.
Also, the cost of the school buses, including maintenance, fuel type, and pay of the bus driver, are all relevant to making a sound decision as to how best to utilize the money allocated for that form of transportation. In addition, just because school buses have traditionally come in fairly standard models, does not equate to that necessarily being the best model to utilize; after all, for example, elementary school children are not the same size and weight as high school students. Also, for a capacity and efficiency standpoint, consideration should be given as to whether or not a double-decker school bus might be appropriate, or basically, for those that think outside the box, what configurations besides the standard issue buses that we see today, might be better than what we currently have.
Despite the fact that school buses are so prevalent, and do not cost parents directly a dime, there are still many a parent that insist upon dropping off their child and/or picking them up at the end of the school day, which seems grossly inefficient, along with the fact that long vehicle traffic lines for parents that have the same mindset adds to both fuel wastage and air pollution. There isn’t any doubt, that school bus transportation for children is a more efficient way to get students to and back from school, of which, because of the sheer size of that school bus fleet, consideration should be taken as to ways to improve upon what we so have already.