Category Archives: Transportation

HISD Transportation celebrates drivers’ role in STAAR testing week

A group of HISD bus drivers were full of joy and excitement during an event held Friday that celebrated their role in having the best attendance during STARR testing week.

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HISD Transportation ranks among top 40 on ‘100 Best Fleets’ list

For the fourth consecutive year, the Houston Independent School District made the list of the “100 Best Fleets” in North America for 2014. Winners were announced April 9 at the NAFA Institute and Expo and published in Governing magazine. HISD’s Transportation Services made a significant jump on the list from last year, moving from number 47 to 39.

Each year, the top 100 fleets in North America are chosen based on documented criteria for excellence, including the use of technology, quick efficient repair turnaround, creativity and repairing vehicles right the first time.

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Transportation department wins Telly Award for ‘School Bus Shuffle’

The Houston Independent School District Transportation Department has won bronze in the 35th Annual Telly Awards for its educational safety video titled “School Bus Shuffle.”

In honor of National School Bus Safety week in October 2013, the HISD Transportation Department created a music video that covered such topics as proper boarding procedures, how to sit on a bus and the importance of reporting bullying. Students from Peck Elementary School, Yates High School and the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts were included in the video, along with district bus drivers and attendants. The district’s multimedia team filmed the video. The video has received more than 38,000 views on YouTube.

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Buster the Bus schools elementary kids on school bus safety

Elmore Elementary School second-graders bubbled with excitement as an animated mini school bus with a stop arm, flashing headlights, and big blinking eyes rolled into the auditorium.

Soon they were getting an important lesson on bus safety – thanks to HISD transportation team members and Buster the Bus, an interactive tool that is traveling around the district to teach children about being safe.

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HISD transportation managers recognize bus personnel during national Love the Bus Month

HISD transportation managers served a pancake breakfast to bus drivers and school bus personnel Thursday as part of a week of events held to recognize national Love the Bus Month.

Love the Bus Month, created by the American School Bus Council, raises awareness and appreciation in February for the hundreds of thousands of school bus drivers who safely transport children to and from school.

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Bus Drivers and Students Sing and Dance for School Bus Safety

HISD Buses by the Numbers
  • HISD operates more than 1,000 school buses
  • School buses travel about 70,000 miles a day
  • HISD transports more than 30,000 students a day
  • All HISD school buses use bio-diesel fuel
  • All bus drivers receive at least 20 hours of training each year

The week of October 21 is National School Bus Safety week and HISD’s Transportation Department has found a creative way to bring attention to the importance of safety on the school bus. Transportation Field Safety Investigator Curtis Harris, who is also a local musician, came up with a catchy song and some even catchier dance moves to remind students and drivers about staying safe on the school bus. It’s called “School Bus Talk,” and with a little help from the HISD Multimedia Department, Harris produced a music video.

“I wanted to do something fun that would get the students’ attention but also teach them an important lesson,” said Harris. “HISD drivers transport over 30,000 students every day on our school buses and we take pride in keeping our kids safe.”

Performers in the video include students from Yates High school, Peck Elementary, and the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. HISD bus drivers also got in on the action. Check out their dance moves by watching the video, and please share it with your friends, family, and students.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sMCGuZUU5Y]

MythBusters: HISD Buses

MYTH: Old, unsafe Carpenter school buses are being used to transport HISD students to and from school.

FACT: HISD no longer uses Carpenter school buses.

In 2003, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an advisory about Carpenter school buses, warning that the roof could cave in should the bus overturn. As a result, HISD removed about 525 Carpenter buses from the fleet at that time.

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Transportation Department Revving Up for a New School Year

The first day of the school is only days away, and HISD’s Transportation Department is doing everything possible to ensure a safe and successful school year.

All parents should receive a postcard in the mail and at least two telephone calls before school starts with their children’s bus-route information, but a customer call center has also been set up to answer questions. Parents can call 713-613-3040 between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. starting Thurs., Aug. 22, for assistance with transportation-related issues. The call center will remain open for at least 30 days.

For HISD school bus safety tips, watch this HISD informational video.

More Transportation Updates:
• There are 889 bus routes this year, a 5 percent increase over last year
• Some 60 new drivers are coming onboard this year
• Safety trainers were schooled in bus inspections, precision-driving techniques, parking, and correct mirror usage so that they could train drivers
• Bus drivers and attendants partnered with the Houston Fire Department for bus evacuation and rescue training and received instruction on treating smoke inhalation and burns
• All 1,001 buses in the HISD fleet will have been inspected and bus cameras, GPS units, and newly activated silent alarms have been checked

Emergency Drill Puts Drivers to the Test

The derailed train and overturned school bus may have looked like a scene out of a disaster movie, but it actually was part of a very real hands-on training exercise for HISD’s Transportation Services Department.

“Hands-on exercises are a much more effective way to train our employees,” said HISD Transportation Manager Chester Glaude. “To make things more realistic, we’ve added real smoke, fire, and an actual overturned bus.”

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HISD Transportation to Provide Emergency/Rescue Training to All Bus Drivers

More than 1,200 to complete hands-on training in partnership with Houston Fire Department

HISD’s Transportation Services, in partnership with the Houston Fire Department, will provide realistic emergency and rescue training to all bus drivers and attendants to prepare them to respond successfully to any crisis on a school bus.  The training will be August 6 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Houston Fire Department Training Facility, 8030 Braniff Street.

Mock emergency drills will prepare bus drivers and attendants to respond to a variety of potential scenarios, including a fire on a school bus, an armed intruder on board, and a wreck involving a train.

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