Our Nation’s School Buses: Providing Safe, Secure Student Transportation
Did you know that school buses are the largest form of mass transportation in the nation? More than 26 million students are transported daily in school buses. They keep 17 million cars off the roads each year, and students are 70 times more likely to get to school safely by riding in a school bus than traveling by car.
Each year, my colleagues and I attend key student transportation shows, such as School Transportation News Expo and the National Association of Pupil Transportation’s Annual Conference. These shows remind me of just how important school bus drivers, school transportation directors, bus maintenance staff, etc., are — and how these people directly impact our children’s lives. These are the folks who keep almost half a million school buses operating safely on a daily basis.
Nearly 13,000 of those school buses are fueled by propane autogas, and the U.S. has a substantial supply of propane to keep them moving. In fact, we have such a surplus of propane that the Energy Information Administration says the U.S. currently has a stock of 80 million barrels. Last week, we produced 1.85 million barrels per day and exported half of that.
Let’s use this domestic energy source to fuel more buses. Propane autogas school buses are safe, clean, quiet and economical. Communities that choose them are supporting cleaner air, a quieter environment for students and drivers, more energy security and reduced fuel and maintenance costs.
The Propane Education & Research Council recently awarded an elementary school in northern California with a $5,000 donation for classroom materials. The school district says they chose buses fueled by propane autogas to maintain “good stewardship of economical and environmental resources.” PERC has donated $75,000 in the past few years to encourage and support communities choosing to fuel with propane.
And, especially this time of year, I’d like to take a moment to thank our veterans for their service. How blessed we are that thousands of veterans — some of the best trained and disciplined people — are now leading the effort to help develop our future leaders.
Have a great Thanksgiving, and give us a call at 800.59.ROUSH if you have any questions about propane autogas and its use for powering our nation’s school buses.
Sincerely,
Todd Mouw
