Unlatching school bus seat belt buckles: Considerations for young passengers.

Automobile seat belts reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities resulting from a crash. As seat belts become more prevalent on large school buses, characterizing the capabilities of children to operate the unlatching mechanism of a seat belt is crucial to ensure the post-crash safety of young passengers. This study evaluated the strength capabilities of children and their abilities to unlatch a school bus seat belt when a school bus is in both the upright and rolled-over orientations. Push force exertions on a seat belt buckle push button were measured and compared to the seat belt assembly release force requirements specified in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 209. Results of the study suggested that children do not have the strength to exert the maximum force of 133 N to release a seat belt assembly as specified in FMVSS No. 209; however, most children could unlatch a typical school bus seat belt assembly in the upright and rolled-over orientations.

Key stakeholder perceptions of select forward mobile equipment pedestrian alarms.

INTRODUCTION: Workplace interactions between pedestrians and industrial mobile equipment often result in workplace fatalities. Employers are normally required to provide pedestrian warning alarms for reverse travel only, though forward travel accidents may comprise as much as 50% of all related fatalities. METHOD: This study was conducted to compare unique configurations of common pedestrian warning alarms to determine whether worker role or equipment configuration were significant independent variables of worker perception of forward alarm irritation and excellent warning characteristics, and whether forward alarms are perceived to be important. RESULTS: While worker role was not found to be a significant variable, select alarm configuration properties were found to be significant. Practical Applications: The results of the study suggest that a combination of broadband and light emitting diode devices are preferential to all other configurations studied.

Considerations for the transportation of school aged children amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

Close proximity seating and the distinctive anthropometric characteristics of young children introduce unique challenges when implementing control strategies to promote safe transportation on school buses. Though face coverings may become one of the most commonly used controls on mass transportation to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the lack of personal protective equipment specifically designed for young children requires further investigation into control strategies to potentially reduce the spread of COVID-19 among school bus passengers. The purpose of this paper is to identify potential concerns and countermeasures (immediate and long term) to be considered for the safe transportation of children amid the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis by taking into consideration the design of school bus cabins and the anthropometric characteristics of children. COVID-19 mitigation strategies concerning cabin design and busing operations are discussed to provide general recommendations for operating fleets while providing as safe and healthy a passenger environment as possible considering both practicality and cost-effectiveness. The risk of virus transmission among school bus passengers may be reduced by adhering to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, and additional bus specific considerations such as structured loading and unloading criteria, face coverings guidelines, incorporation of a bus monitor, and potential modifications/design changes for existing/future school buses. Several controls being used to protect passengers from virus transmission in other modes of mass transportation could also have the potential for immediate incorporation into school buses.

Seat Assignments With Physical Distancing in Single-Destination Public Transit Settings.

While the importance of physical (social) distancing in reducing the spread of COVID-19 has been well-documented, implementing similar controls in public transit remains an open question. For instance, in the United States, guidance for maximum seating capacity in single-destination public transit settings, such as school buses, is only dependent on the physical distance between passengers. In our estimation, the available models/guidance are suboptimal/inefficient since they do not account for the possibility of passengers being from the same household. This paper discusses and addresses the aforementioned limitation through two types of physical distancing models. First, a mixed-integer programming model is used to assign passengers to seats based on the reported configuration of the vehicle and desired physical distancing requirement. In the second model, we present a heuristic that allows for household grouping. Through several illustrative scenarios, we show that seating assignments can be generated in near real-time, and the household grouping heuristic increases the capacity of the transit vehicles (e.g., airplanes, school buses, and trains) without increasing the risk of infection. A running application and its source code are available to the public to facilitate adoption and to encourage enhancements.

Increasing evacuation flow through school bus emergency roof hatches.

Emergency escape roof hatches are used to evacuate school buses in rolled-over orientations. In the United States, the minimum opening size of a roof hatch is defined by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) no. 217. With the prevalence of rising obesity rates among children, the minimum roof hatch opening size may not be large enough to accommodate larger passengers. Post-accident conditions such as injuries, disorientation, and exit obstructions may also prevent unobstructed passage for egress within acceptable time limits. The purpose of this study was to redesign and fabricate a roof hatch with a larger opening and evaluate its egress characteristics for a range of typical school bus passengers. The larger roof hatch opening allows greater evacuation flow rates, and is almost functionally equivalent to the evacuation flow rate of the front door on an upright school bus.