New School Buses Hit the Roads in Charlotte and Sarasota Counties
As the new school year begins Monday, students across Charlotte and Sarasota counties will be transported in state-of-the-art buses designed to enhance safety and efficiency.
Charlotte County has prepared a fleet that includes 121 existing buses and 14 newly added ones. Each new 77-passenger school bus costs approximately $150,000, with prices potentially rising for features like wheelchair accessibility. The new buses are equipped with a Cummins 6.7-liter engine and an exhaust brake system to ensure smooth deceleration and reduce brake wear. Safety features include seat belts and built-in car seat straps, eliminating the need for heavy car seats to be installed on the bus.
Visibility improvements come with LED headlights, illuminated stop signs on the arm, and enhanced lighting on the sides and rear of the bus to ensure the buses are easily seen in various lighting conditions.
Upgraded surveillance systems now include cameras that monitor traffic around the bus. Drivers are required to stop when a school bus has its red lights flashing and the STOP arm extended, a crucial measure for protecting children crossing the street. Recently, an incident highlighted the importance of this rule, as a driver narrowly avoided hitting a mother and child crossing the street while the bus was stopped.
Drivers are not required to stop for a parked school bus when there is a raised barrier or a median of at least five feet separating lanes of traffic.
In addition to these advancements, both Charlotte County Public Schools and Sarasota County Schools have introduced new technology to assist parents. A mobile app allows parents to track their child’s bus in real-time and provides an estimated time of arrival. Students now use assigned school ID badges to board the bus, streamlining the process.
For Charlotte County, detailed bus stop information is available at bus.yourcharlotteschools.net/PublicWeb/. Sarasota County parents can access bus stop details through the new Focus Parent Portal’s transportation tab.
For more information about tracking school buses, visit wheresthebus.com.