Thursday, August 2, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Transportation Department Readies for Start of School

George Taylor, Director of the Kansas City Kansas Public Schools Transportation Department, has a lofty goal. He wants to have all students riding buses to be transported to and from school safely throughout the whole year. That means no lost children, no children left at bus stops, no children left on buses, and no accidents. That is a lofty goal, especially since roughly 50% of KCKPS students ride buses to and from school, on field trips, and for extra-curricular activities.

Some interesting statistics: The fleet of 158 buses (95 large and 63 small) drive an average of 11,200 miles per day, for approximately 12,500 miles per bus per year. An estimated 5000 stops are made per day.

This fleet of 158 buses ended last year with only 38 accidents in those 197,500 total miles. Only nine of those 38 accidents were the fault of bus drivers. That's more than 246,500 miles between chargeable accidents!

The Transportation Department will begin the school year fully staffed, and fully trained. Trainer Lenora Miller has been hard at work, assisted by veteran drivers. Training will continue throughout the year, to make sure that all drivers are up to date on their Commercial Drivers License certification, and Department of Transportation physicals.

Taylor and Miller conduct monthly safety meetings, where drivers discuss safety issues that range from student behavior to traffic patterns. Bus drivers also must take a defensive driving course from the Kansas Highway Patrol. All drivers will have completed this course before school begins.

The Transportation Department will begin its year on Monday, August 6 with an opening meeting and breakout sessions where drivers will receive their preliminary bus routes. On Wednesday and Thursday, they will do a dry run of each of their routes, suggesting changes that should be made. Changes could be as small as changing the order of a couple of stops, to altering the course because of a street that is too narrow. Final routes will then be distributed.

Taylor advises drivers to make each stop on their route every day for the first month. He realizes that parents sometimes take their children to school for the first few days, so often students begin riding the bus a week or two after school actually begins. After the first month, changes will be made to reflect stops that are not being used. Changes in routes continue during the school year to accommodate the needs of students and parents, as well as traffic concerns.

Another important preparation for the Transportation Department is the annual inspection of all buses by the Kansas Highway Patrol. Taylor is proud to say that in his seven years on the job, the KHP has never had to make a return inspection. Anything that the KHP finds in their inspection – like an overhead light bulb that needs to be changed, or a wiper blade that wasn't in the best of shape – have been made on the spot and approved before they leave on inspection day. Taylor attributes this feat to the staff in the Fleet Maintenance shop. They work hard all year, but especially in the summer, to prepare buses for inspection.

Taylor says that transporting students safely requires a team of people cooperating at all times. One of the most important links is the information that parents and students give at enrollment, which frequently needs to be updated as circumstances change. Correct addresses and parent contact information are just two pieces of information that are very important in transporting students and keeping them safe.

"We recognize that we are an important part in the education of our Kansas City, Kansas children," Taylor said. "Without us, many of them would not be able to get to school to learn."