Discover the Journey: Top 8 Amazing Fun Facts About School Buses You Never Knew!

1. Width Consistency, Length Variety

If school buses were under surveillance in a police lineup, one thing's for sure: they wouldn't be picked out for a width violation! But as for length, the 35-footers might have raised some eyebrows back in the day: School buses come in different sizes, from 20-foot shorties to their over 35-foot lengthy cousins, yet all maintain a consistent 7.5-foot width to abide by road regulations.
Source => gigacalculator.com

2. Fast, Safe, and Furious Speed Limits

If the Fast and Furious franchise ever needs a new co-star, they may want to consider Virginia's finest in pupil transportation - after all, they have mastered the art of controlled speed limits: In Virginia, school buses are restricted to 45 mph on urban Interstate highways and 55 mph on rural Interstate highways, with a built-in speed governor to ensure safety. Turns out, this method is super effective, as only 17 school bus crashes occurred on Virginia's Interstate highways over four years, resulting in just six injuries and absolutely zero deaths! Fast, safe, and Furious indeed!
Source => trid.trb.org

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=> Fun Facts about Transportation

3. Largest Fleet of Public Transit

You know what they say: if you can't make it to the school bus, the school bus makes it to you – or rather, 480,000 yellow behemoths on wheels! Seriously though: school buses make up the largest fleet of public transit systems in the United States, outnumbering other mass transportation vehicles 2.5 times. Each day, these mighty machines transport over 26 million students across the country, covering millions of miles.
Source => dmvlist.com

4. Traffic Cop School Buses

Did you know that school buses moonlight as traffic cops? They're all about flashing red lights and showing off their enforcement equipment: In every state, it's illegal for drivers to pass a school bus with its stop-arm extended and red lights flashing, thanks to features like cross-view mirrors and stop-sign arms that increase visibility and protect the precious cargo - students!
Source => nhtsa.gov

5. Stop-Arm Camera Champions

In the bustling world of New York, where subway cars are like sardine cans and honking horns play the soundtrack of the city, there lurks a greater beast: traffic-law-defying automobiles! Yet, fear not, brave school buses – a new champion arises: The Bethlehem Central School District in Albany County, NY, is partnering with BusPatrol to install stop arm cameras on their buses to capture license plates and videos of the nearly 50,000 daily culprits who illegally pass stopped school buses, helping to keep our children safe from the vehicular menaces of the streets.
Source => news10.com

6. Vegetable Oil-Powered Buses

Talk about a cookin' and cruisin' combo: some old school buses can run on vegetable oil converted into biodiesel fuel, with Middlebury College students driving 15,000 miles across the U.S. in such a bus, supported by a '98 Volkswagen Jetta running on used vegetable oil for grocery runs and city navigation – though not all modern school buses are fueled by frying oil.
Source => nbcnews.com

7. Magical Yellow Bus Fleet

If Hogwarts had a fleet of yellow Muggle buses instead of a magical train, it would look like this: school buses are the safest and most popular mode of transportation for students in the US, with 480,000 buses transporting 26 million students daily–a public transit system more immense than a giant squid in the Great Lake!
Source => dmvlist.com

8. Environmental Heroes on Wheels

Who needs a yellow submarine when we have a yellow bus saving the world, one gallon at a time: Each school bus in the United States reduces carbon emissions by replacing 36 cars, saving 2.3 billion gallons of fuel and $7.3 billion in fuel costs annually, all while traveling about 12,000 miles per year and using an average of 1,700 gallons of fuel.
Source => nysbca.com