School Bus Fleet

FACT 2013

A management & maintenance magazine for school transportation fleets

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glossary would equal 15 passenger miles — totaling 23 passenger miles.) Performance-based procurement: Competitive procedure in which contracts are awarded based on a combination of price and past performance; also known as Best Value Procurement. P.L.94-142: (See EHA.) Postural support: A seat, belt or other component used to support a child with disabilities in a desired position but not designed or intended to provide occupant restraint in a crash; also known as positioning device. Power base: A powered, wheeled platform used to mount a seating device for carrying an individual with a disability; usually characterized by smaller-diameter tires. Power cut-off switch: A device that cancels all power from the vehicle batteries. Power lift: A mechanized platform designed to provide access to a vehicle for an occupied mobility aid/wheelchair; also known as a wheelchair lift. Positive-locking: A design feature of the mobility aid securement and occupant restraint system where the attachment and anchoring hardware cannot be inadvertently released or disengaged once properly installed. Post-trip interior inspection: A check of the interior of the bus by the driver at the end of the run to ensure that no children or student belongings have been left behind. Powertrain: The group of components used to transmit engine power to the wheels; includes engine, transmission, universal joints, driveshaft, drive axles and gears; also known as drivetrain. Pre-school: Refers to a child between the ages of 3 and 5 years who is not yet in kindergarten or to a program serving children in that age range. Pre-trip inspection: A systematic inspection of the bus by the driver before every trip or shift to ensure that the bus is in safe operating condition. The same procedure performed after the trip/shift is the post-trip inspection. Privatization: The process of transferring the operation of public services from the public agencies to private companies or nonproft organizations; also known as contracting or outsourcing. Pupil: (See student.) Pusher: A school bus in which the engine is mounted in the rear of the vehicle; also known as rear-engine bus. (See also Type D under bus.) Pushout window: A bus window that is hinged at the top or front to enable the window to be swung upward or outward relative to the side of the bus and to provide a means of emergency egress from the bus; also known as emergency window. R Railroad crossing: The intersection of a highway, street or roadway and railroad tracks; also known as grade crossing. 22 SCHOOL BUS FLEET Ramp: An inclined plane for use between the ground and the foor of the vehicle to permit access by persons in wheelchairs/mobility aids. Reflective: Refers to the property of materials that causes them, when they are illuminated, to refect the light to some extent. Related services: Transportation and other supportive services that are required to assist a child with a disability to beneft from special education. Remanufactured: Refers to a vehicle component that has been structurally restored. RESNA: Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America; an organization engaged in research and development of assistive technology for persons with disabilities. Restraining barrier: An assembly similar to a seat back located immediately in front of a single school bus passenger seat or row of seats to provide crash protection in accordance with FMVSS No. 222; also known as barrier, crash barrier and seat barrier. Restraint system: A generic term for one or more devices intended to secure and protect a passenger with or without a mobility aid in a vehicle, including lap belts, lap-shoulder belts, child safety seats, safety vests, etc. Retractor, automatic-locking: A retractor incorporating adjustment by means of a positive self-locking mechanism that is capable of withstanding restraint forces. Retractor, emergency-locking: A retractor that incorporates adjustment by means of a locking mechanism that is activated by vehicle acceleration, webbing movement relative to the vehicle or automatic action during an emergency, and that is capable of withstanding restraint forces. Retroreflective: Refers to material that is designed to direct light back to its source. RFP: Request For Proposals; an invitation to submit a contract proposal; less restrictive than an invitation to bid on a contract. Ridership: The number of passengers using a transportation system during a given time period. Right: Right position is determined from the normal driving position as seated in the driver's seat looking in the forward direction of travel. Rim: The part of the wheel on which the tire is mounted and supported. Risk management: Practices and procedures designed to protect against losses from accidents, passenger and worker injuries, vehicle damage and other losses, and to reduce insurance costs. Rolling stock: The vehicles in a transportation system. Roof hatch: (See emergency roof exit.) Route: A designated course regularly traveled by a school bus to pick up students and take them to school, or to deliver students from school to their homes or designated bus stops. Route miles: The total number of miles in one or more routes in the system. Route sheet: A list of all the designated stops on a route. Run: A complete trip on a route. (To illustrate the difference between a run and a route: It is possible to have six daily runs on the same route, i.e., one high school, one middle school and one elementary run in both morning and afternoon.) Running gear: The wheels, axles, springs, frames and other carrying parts of the vehicle. S SAE: Society of Automotive Engineers; the leading standards-writing organization for the automotive industry. SAP: Substance Abuse Professional; a licensed physician, psychologist, social worker or alcohol and drug counselor who is required to evaluate any employee who violates a carrier's drug and alcohol testing program. Safety incident: An occurrence that represents a close call/near miss or recognized heightened level of risk to students traveling to and from school or school-related activities. Safe travel training: Educational programs provided for students to teach safe procedures for travel to and from school and home and to and from school-related activities. Safety vest/harness: A combination pelvic and upper torso child restraint system that consists primarily of fexible material, such as straps, webbing or similar material, and that does not include a rigid seating structure for the child. Can be used with a cam wrap on a school bus seat or with a tether in other vehicles. Safety patrol: Students whose duties may include acting as crossing guards and safety assistants. Safety ridership training: Educational programs provided for students to teach proper behavior while waiting for, riding in, boarding or leaving school buses; also known as ridership programs. SBMTC: School Bus Manufacturers Technical Council; a membership organization within NASDPTS that serves as a technical advisor regarding school bus technology and construction. School: An educational institution for children at the pre-primary, primary, elementary or secondary level, including nursery schools and Head Start programs, but not including day care programs. School bus equipment: Equipment designed primarily as a system, part or component of a school bus, or any similar part or component manufactured or sold for replacement or as an accessory or addition to a school bus. School bus stop: An area on the street or highway designated by school offcials for picking up and discharging students. School bus traffic warning lamps: (See alternately fashing signal lamps.) School endorsement: A designation (S) on a CDL that indicates the driver is licensed to operate a school bus. School trip: (See activity trip.) School tripper trip: The transportation in a school tripper bus of any student enrolled in a public or private school to or from school or to or from a school-related activity. School vehicle: Any vehicle owned, leased, contracted to or operated by a school or school district and regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities. Includes school buses, activity buses, vans and passenger cars, but does not include transit or charter buses. Scooter: A motorized mobility aid with three wheels, handle bar or tiller and a swiveling seat. SCR: Selective catalyst reduction; a type of NOx-reducing technology which uses a chemical reductant (diesel exhaust fluid, or DEF) injected into the exhaust stream, where it transforms into ammonia and reacts with NOx on a catalyst, converting the NOx to nitrogen gas and water vapor. The reducing agent needs to be periodically replenished. SEA: State Education Agency. Seat: A device designed and installed to provide seating accommodations. Activity seat: A seat designed for passenger comfort with contoured seats and backs with the result that passengers' positions are distinctly separate; characterized by fxed seat backs; may have arm rests and head rests; can be manufactured to meet FMVSS No. 222. Bench seat: A seat designed to accommodate more than one passenger with no apparent partitioning between positions, which is characterized by fxed legs and a fxed back (e.g., the standard school bus seat, which meets FMVSS No. 222). Davenport seat: A bench seat that extends from side wall to side wall at the rearmost seating position in the bus; not permitted in school buses. Flex seat: A type of bench seat equipped with lap-shoulder seat belts that can be reconfgured so that the number of seating positions on the seat can change. An example is a seat that can be reconfgured to accommodate either three smaller students or two larger students; also known as fexible seating systems or fexible occupancy seats. Flip seat: A school bus bench seat designed so that the cushion fips up when the seat is not occupied, similar to a theater seat; used to provide aisle clearance, as required by FVMSS No. 217, when a passenger seat is located adjacent to a side emergency door. Integrated child safety seat: A child safety seat meeting the requirements of FMVSS No. 213 that is built into and thus an integral part of a bench seat. Jump seat: A seat designed to fold down to provide supplemental seating in a bus (e.g., in the aisle, in front of the door or along the side wall); not permitted in school buses.

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