School buses are one of the safest modes of transportation for students, but you can never be too safe! New improvements in lighting systems recently caught the interest of our District and Board leaders as a great way to make our bus system even safer through the valley’s harsh winter months. 

Former Transportation Director, Blaine Thorington, who learned about the improvements at a safety conference and excitedly relayed the information to TSD, shared that the new system includes brighter, smaller bulbs for the front and rear of the bus as well as the extending stop sign paddle. Thorington explained that these new lights increase visibility for our bus drivers as well as other drivers on the road, making the buses easier to see from greater distances, even in dark or foggy conditions.

The standard for buses previously included a strobe light on top of the bus, but Thorington believes these new lighting systems will soon become the standard. Thorington even went on to share that “Bus drivers have already shared that they’ve noticed fewer incidents of drivers running through the buses’ stop sign, and we expect results will only improve in the winter months.”

Implementing the new lighting system was expensive, so TSD initially only added improvements to a couple of buses. After seeing the unmistakable benefits, bus drivers and Board members alike were excited to implement the improvement district-wide. With the help of transportation and maintenance teams, TSD outfitted all buses in the district with lighting improvements—each installation taking about three hours. Through the teams’ collaboration and quick work, they have successfully installed the improvements on all TSD buses. Thanks to the district-wide collaboration in the new school year, our children will be safer than ever in their travels to and from school.