History Of The School Bus

The school bus is everywhere, it's literally part of the fabric of traffic in the mornings and afternoons.
but have you ever stopped to consider it's history, how it developed, and the many changes that have occurred even while they remain instantly recognizable?
and why the heck are they all YELLOW?
This is a far too brief history of the school bus!

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[MisterMikeTexas]

I was a special education student in the early 70s, and attended an "all-grades" private school for learning challenges in West Fort Worth, Texas. The school utilized the Fort Worth ISD bus service. But due to our "low tier" status, they dispatched the older busses that were prone to breaking more frequently than the latest ones. They were manual transmission, and I remember a couple of Fords, a GMC, and a Dodge. The Dodge seemed to be the most problematic, and was probably ready for retirement. One day I was picked up, and one of the students announced the brakes were out. That was an interesting commute! Another time, we had a carburetor fire. I think the driver put it out with the on-board extinguisher. Soon after, we got a late model International "short bus" with Wayne-built coach. It had the classic Allison 4-speed automatic. From there on, we had the modern busses everyone else enjoyed.

[andyvonyeast]

I’m a former school bus mechanic and my wife is a current school bus driver. Very interesting and informative video, thanks so much!!

[Trapper]

While growing up in Rural Arkansas in the late 60s and early 70s, I lived on a sharecroppers farm, however, my foster grandfather also drove the school bus for 40 years, therefore the school bus was always parked at our house year around. My evening chores included sweeping the bus every afternoon, and in the winter time, I begged my grandpa to let me start the bus to warm it up. It had the tightest clutch I'd ever pushed, and when no one was looking I would put it in gear and pull forward and back it up. Later I attended college between '85-'90, I drove the school bus for the Arkadelphia, Arkansas School District. I drove a 3-speed 1978 GMC school bus with that beautiful boxy hood. Still to this day, I consider that to be the best looking school bus. Driving the school bus back then was by far the most fun I'd ever experienced in my working career to this day. Great memories and a great article! Thanks Jon! 😁

[gman]

I don't know where you went to school but my school had no bedrooms in it!

[msTwenty]

I drove a bus for the very first school bus Co. in IL (Kickert School Bus Lines)
They started out in the 1800's as a horse and carriage. They are still operating today, although i'm sure it is no longer family owned.
Thanks for the video!

[V_N_Carvalho]

I loooove these Yellow Schoolar Buses in USA. And what a cute children trying to get on it !!!
No, I did not Fell in Love inside one of them when I was Teenager, not even suffered bullying as well... (Course not, I am from brazil)... / ...But I think the US Schoolar Buses, The Amtrak Trains and Greyhound Buses are Pretty Nice Ícons of America!
Keep up your good working on YouTube... 😀

[TheREALJosephTurner]

0:49 "One bedroom schoolhouse." LOL. You're allowed a slip now and then, because your videos are pretty awesome and informative. Love the "Far Too Brief History" Series."

[richardharepax]

Growing up I rode on lots of blue bird buses and saw when they change from stick shift to manual and I saw the thicker seats at the end of my schooling. I love the way different looks of the front except the the flat nose ones

[richarderickson]

Grew up in western Kansas in 60s /70s. City kids walked or rode bikes to school. Farm kids got to ride buses. The only time school closed for snow was if the bus could not run the routes.( a driver would do test run) so us city kids always prayed the bus got stuck. Good times. Love your content, Thanks.

[privateprivate]

My favorite bus is the 50s i think until 90s Crown round tail, split window buses. Very cool looking

[gregcrabb]

I was blessed in that i never had to ride the bus to or from school. Now for school or band functions of course i had to...but at least I didn't have to leave home so early or get home late due to the slow pokey bus.

[bobhill]

One of the most interesting vehicle history videos I've seen. Keep up the great work.

[gordonwallin]

Nice job. Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.

[MillerMeteor]

I was in public school 1968-74, and rode school buses 1969-74. That was because our family moved when I was halfway through Kindergarten. I still remember that during those 5+ school years, I only rode two different buses (and I remember the bus numbers). I'm quite sure one of them was lime green with a white roof. My Dad was an amateur photographer and took slides. So it's possible there's a picture of me and my brother getting off the bus one time. So we may actually be able to see at least part of one of those buses. My best friend's mother drove a school bus. Also starting sometime in the mid 70s my Dad was a Sunday School bus driver for our church, and the bus he drove was a 1965 Superior on International Loadstar chassis. He used to bring it home to service it, and sometimes borrowed it, if he needed to transport his extension ladder. So I saw that bus a lot. I still remember him saying that it got 5 mpg all the time. I also used to practice driving stick shift on it, in the church parking lot. But I only did that a few times. Anyway, I'm interested in all kinds of transportation, so I found this interesting.

[RobertSmith-lewp]

I always found the lipespan of a bus to be interesting. It’s starts off as a new bus in a good district, then after 15-20 years gets passed down to a poorer school district. After that they will get passed onto a church. After that some one will buy it to convert to an RV or it makes it’s way to the junkyard

[corinnelaking]

Some very interesting information here Jon, thanks for taking the time to make this video. I've been a bus mechanic for about 15 years total, primarily school buses, but about 1.5 years public transit experience in the mix.

I have today learned some things I wasn't aware of, for which I'm grateful. I do have more trivial bits I can share, but it's a sleepy Sunday afternoon and my old brain's a little foggy. I'll come back and post again later.🙂

Best regards,
Shea Laking

[leonb]

Two other points about north American school buses. After a horrible crash by a drunk driver into the fuel tank area (just behind the loading door) on a school bus used for a school trip I believe in Kentucky, there had be added crash structure around fuel tanks. Another is the location of the 3 black painted reinforcements on the sides and back of buses. The lower one is the floor level, the middle the seat bottom level and the top the shoulder level. Automatic transmissions were added and are the only ones used today due to the decline of persons who could drive stick. Most states have separate school bus license endorsements due to medical exam, competency as to the special rules as to school buses and including fingerprint and background checks to make sure you can be around minors.

[Robbi]

In Evanston, IL we had our own bus company until1974. We paid for our rides, though it was a 50 % discount over the normal fare. These were normal city busses, not school busses

[wesleyschneider]

Can you do a far to brief history on Kenworth or Peterbilt trucks. Or even the Marmon truck company which used to make cars before class 8 trucks

[evilchaosboy]

That's the first time I watched a history of the much destested school bus! I perfered the lower, thinner seatbacks because you could see everywhere on the bus. The high thick seatbacks may have been safer, but you couldn't see anything! Great topic choice!! \m/