Back to school was a busy time of year for students, parents, and communities alike. As schools prepared to welcome students for a new year and the big yellow buses returned to the roads, the pupil transportation industry was busy getting ready to safely transport students across the country.
Every year in the US, an estimated 45.2 million cars illegally pass stopped school buses putting students at risk on the ride to and from school. During the back-to-school season, road safety is a key focus in many communities. Data from our partners nationwide suggests that back-to-school is one of the most dangerous times of year for students, with communities seeing a surge of illegal passing incidents after the summer months.
At BusPatrol, student safety is our top priority. Not only do we support safer communities with our school bus safety programs, but we also ensure both students riding the bus and drivers have the knowledge they need to operate safely around school buses.
Over the past few months, our team of BusPatrollers has been traveling across the country, working with communities to modernize school buses and make roads safer for students.
Curious about what we’ve been up to? Read on to discover our latest initiatives and how we made a difference this back-to-school season!
Launching New Safety Programs Across the Country
The new school year often sees districts introduce new initiatives to enhance student safety—and this year was no exception! We were proud to announce new partnerships with communities in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island to modernize entire fleets of school buses and make roads safer for students. We announced new programs in…
- Florida: Hillsborough County – Hillsborough County Public Schools and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office became our second partnership in the Sunshine State with a full-fleet safety program across 1,000 buses.
- Pennsylvania: Multiple Cities – Five Pennsylvania school districts– Central Bucks, North Penn, Marple Newtown, and Susquehanna – launched our safety program. Over 50 districts in the state now leverage BusPatrol’s advanced safety program to make roads safer for students.
- New York: Buffalo – Buffalo became the latest city in New York to partner with BusPatrol. The program started with an extensive warning period and education period to remind motorists about school bus safety traffic laws.
Bringing safer roads to students in Buffalo, New York
- Connecticut: Bridgeport – We partnered with the City of Bridgeport, Bridgeport Public Schools, and WE Transport to launch the largest school bus safety program in the state’s history with almost 250 school buses modernized with safety technology.
- Rhode Island: Providence – In collaboration with the City of Providence, Providence Public Schools, and First Student we launched the state’s first stop-arm enforcement program across the district’s entire fleet of 140 buses.
“Our commitment to student safety drives everything we do,” said Providence Public School District Superintendent Javier Montañez. “By implementing this advanced technology, we are taking a significant step to protect our children and promote safer driving behaviors in our community.”
Educating Communities: School Bus Safety Awareness for Back-to-School
With reports of distracted driving on the rise in the US, education is an important tool in changing driver behavior. To raise awareness, we ran our biggest back-to-school safety campaign yet in collaboration with our partners nationwide. Our educational resources highlight the importance of school bus safety and encourage communities to take proactive steps to protect children:
- Media resources including press release templates and videos.
- Print-ready materials such as banners and informational fliers.
- Engaging digital content, including templated social media posts and informative videos.
As we move into a new school year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the progress we’ve made toward our mission of keeping every student safe on the ride to and from school. Thank you to all our partners for joining us this back-to-school to educate communities, bring cutting-edge technology to the school bus, and ultimately, make roads safer for everyone.
Join the Movement for Safer Roads
If you’re interested in learning how you can bring BusPatrol to your community, click here.
