- Why do bus numbers keep going up when new buses are purchased? Why not just keep the same numbers as the old buses? There is no way Shen has upwards of 700 buses. What will happen once the number reaches 1000?
A. Bus numbers are associated with a specific bus relative to its maintenance record. Bus numbers can’t be recycled, otherwise they will cause conflict with maintenance records and corrupt our database. Bus numbers will continue to go up for quite sometime to come. And, you are correct, we don’t have 700 plus buses. We currently […]
Grapevine and PlainFacts Archives – Transportation
Latest Grapevine and PlainFacts Posts - Transportation:
- when is the next bus auction?
A. The district does not conduct auction of buses. We submit our buses which are to be removed from the operating bus fleet and have Auctioninternation.com auction the buses for us. We typically pull the buses from the active fleet during august and submit their information to Auctioninternational sometime in September. Please check Auctioninternational.com.
- Who do I take to about raising the buses speed limit on the highway from 55mph to 65mph..these buses going 55 cause a lot of slowdowns and near accidents..not good
A. Bus speed limit of 55 MPH is set by New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law (8 NYCRR 156.3 e6). The speed limit is designed for the safety of the passengers.
- Has Shen considered purchasing Tesla buses?
A. Shen transportation is always evaluating the various fuel/electric powered school buses and will continue to do so. Currently Tesla does not offer school buses. There are other electric powered school buses but their cost is too prohibitive at this point. We will continue to monitor the market forces and make decisions accordingly.
- I understand filling a big bus in the morning with 15-35 students but how does the district justify wasting the fuel on sending a large bus for 1 special ed child? Doesn’t seem efficient
A. There many ways of distinguishing efficiency. We run more than 600 routes daily. Sometimes it is more efficient for us to use a bus that is already out on the road instead of sending another bus especially in the this day and age of extreme school bus driver shortage.
- Does Shen have a plan to make the buses more efficient for the Earth? I mean come on each bus when on full takes 100 gallons of diesels and take 10 quarts of oil..that adds up.
A. Diesel buses are very efficient and run just as clean if not cleaner than LPG, Gasoline and CNG. Diesel powered buses are more efficient than other type of alternative fueled buses. We will stick to diesel for the foreseeable future to see how the electric powered buses and other alternative fuels mature and become […]
- Has the school ever considered putting some sort of tracker on the buses? For instance there could be an app, where the students are able to type in some information, such as the bus #, which would then tell us where the bus is, and how much time we have before it arrives to our bus stop. This way it would be a lot easier to be able to know how much time we have, and be able to make the bus on time and be ready early. Thanks.
A. In 2017, the district did test an App which would allow parents and students to track their bus location/arrival time. Unfortunately the app did not perform as we had hoped. We experienced a significant time difference on some of the buses from anywhere between 2-9 minutes, this would have created more issues for the […]
- Why do you want to put wifi on the school buses? Who needs it? Did you survey the students? How many said that they would like to do homework on the bus but can’t do it without wifi? The bus ride is too loud, too shaky, and too short to do homework. So who requested this?
A. That is just an added benefit. Wifi is being added to buses to improve security and communications for bus drivers.
- Is the same set of buses used 3 times in the morning to transport students to school? (to high school, then elementary school, then other elementary or middle school)
A. The bus routing system is much more complicated than that.
- I wait so long in the freezing cold to wait for my bus.Expecting it to be warm when i get on its as cold as it is outside. The bus is freezing. Its ridiculous because we have to sit on the buses so long to wait to get off and all i do is shiver.
A. Diesel-powered school buses are equipped to maintain an interior temp of at least 53 degrees, which our buses ususally do. The extreme temperature made it very difficult for the buses to warm up. We always encourage our students to dress warmly based on weather conditions.
- Why does the school spend so much on buses when your fleet just needs maintenance. If I had 20 Corvettes from the past 20 years that just needed some work here and there, why would I buy new ones? Replace corvettes with buses
A. Safety is what drives our bus replacement plan. A school bus is not a corvette and there’s a lot more to maintaining a safe school bus fleet than just a little maintenance here and little maintenance there. School buses must pass a 230 plus point inspection every six months. After 10-13 years of winter cycles […]
- I noticed the cameras on the busses and I noticed that they had a curved line of lights that were lit up,does this mean that the camera is on only when the lights are on?Also please show us how good the microphones are on the cameras.
A. Those questions will not be answered for security reasons.
- Do Shen school busses have cameras that detect when a driver passes a stopped school bus? If not, why?
A. Shen school buses do not have cameras that detect when cars pass their red lights and stop sign when picking up and discharging passengers. There is no New York State law that allows these cameras to be used to enforce the illegal passing. New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) which represents School Transportation […]
- Why do we have bus drivers shortage?
A. Thank you for your question. The issue of school bus driver shortage is not unique to Shenendehowa Central Schools but is a nationwide problem. There are several reasons for the school bus driver shortage. Data shows that for every bus driver who resigns or retires, school districts and private contractors must find 2.5 applicants […]
- Why are kids that are bused to private schools allowed to bring their athletic equipment on the bus, ie: baseball bats? My son was NOT allowed to bring his baseball bats on the bus and he was expected to make other arrangements to get his equipment to school. Doesn’t seem very fair!
A. We do apologize for the misunderstanding. Baseball bats are allowed on the bus only if they are placed inside a bag which would keep the bat from becoming a flying projectile in case of an accident. Here’s a link to the Shen Transportation website, you will find more information on what the rules are […]
- Can we paint the Shen buses green for Shen pride?
A. No, they have to be yellow by law.
- My bus driver told me that you are not allowed to get off the bus after you get on it. Is this an actual rule, because if so I was never aware of it before?
A. This is true. Once students are onboard the bus they are not allowed back off. Bus drivers assume full responsibility for the safety and welfare of the students once students board the bus. A student who needs to get back off the bus would need to ask the bus driver to get permission from […]
- Is there a limit to the length of a students’ bus ride. My grandchildren leave Tesago at 2:15 and the bus drops them at their house in the Oaks at 3:05. This is their regular time. I thought it seemed rather long
A. There are many factors that impact the school bus ride home. The NYS Commissioner of Education has ruled on numerous occasions that a bus ride of 1.5 hours is not unreasonable. The Shen school district attempts to keep bus rides under one hour when possible. We strive for both safety and efficiencies. Note, while […]
- Every day afternoon route 412p shows up late to pick the kids up. Has this driver been reprimanded or has any action been taken to improve this situation?
A. We have never received a call from anyone about this. Our GPS and live Onscreen program doesn’t indicate a problem for that bus. Please call the transportation department to address any transportation concerns.
- I’m a junior and since juniors can’t drive to school I have to take the bus. My bus comes at approximately 6:34am and sometimes earlier. I find myself almost missing the bus because it consistently comes earlier as the week progresses. When my bus gets to campus, at 6:50am, we have to wait on the bus until 7:10am. That’s 20 minutes of sitting on the bus Infront of school. My question is Why can’t the bus drivers pick the students up at least five minutes later instead of rushing to school to wait Infront for 20 minutes?
A. This is a question that is often asked. The bus driver starts the route on time every day. Sometimes the route runs later and sometimes it runs earlier depending on a couple of factors such as traffic, weather and the number of student who may/may not board the bus on any particular day. We […]
- Can a middle school student get off at any bus stop or must they get off at their designated stop each afternoon?
A. High school and middle school students may ride a different bus, if this is a onetime deal, upon presentation of a bus pass to the bus driver. Bus passes are available at your school office, processed with information obtained from a note from the parent/guardian. Please note, bus passes will only be honored on […]
- How often are school buses checked for safety and mechanical issues. I witnessed a bus on Route 146, which while stopped at a red light and in motion, had a door wide open.
A. Every bus is on a 56-day, preventative maintenance schedule. Every day, before the bus leaves the bus compound, the school bus drivers make a pre-trip inspection. Unfortunately, once in a while things do go wrong on the roadway. In this particular case, there were no children onboard and the bus was close enough to the […]
- Wouldn’t it make way more sense to have elementary, middle, and high school’s bus times switch? For example, having high school have school start at 8:40, having middle school start at 8:00 and having elementary start at the high school time. This would make sense because the high schoolers have the most hw, and the least time to sleep. Elementary schools in other regions start earlier, so they should get used to waking up early to go to school. They are the least stressed out with school, so it just makes sense.
A. The district frequently looks at the number of buses, routing logistics and school start times. This is the schedule that works logistically right now.
