It is in to outsource

Last year Berrien Regional Education Service Agency, Berrien Springs, MI, charged with caring for the community’s special needs children, faced state budget cuts and had to find a way to lower costs without compromising safety. It needed specialized vehicles, a flexible and compassionate staff and nurses to ride routes. Officials were not sure what they would find when they first considered outsourcing the transportation program.

New Chicago city bus tours unveil neighborhoods, art and history

Chicago Neighborhood Tours, a division of the Office of Tourism, recently added several new themed half-day bus tours to its offerings this season.

The new tours include a look at Albany Park with stops at the Cambodian American Heritage Museum, the River Park Dam and Waterfall, North Park Village and the Superdawg Drive-In.

Trailways veterans unravel the mystery of the Super Golden Eagles

I was looking at photos on Trailways Bus Driver Web site and came across the photo of the Super Golden Eagle. The picture was taken in December 2008. Does anyone know where the bus is located or have any info on who owns it?

It was owned and restored by Pete Wilson of Wilson’s Bus Co. in East Templeton, MA. Its mate (only four were built) sits unrestored at the Green Tortoise yard in southern Oregon.

If it is not documented, it was not done

Most safety personnel and owners would say they provide driver training to ensure their drivers are capable of operating their vehicles. After all, buses are expensive to buy and expensive to repair, and a bus out of service for any reason is even more costly when the monthly payment comes due.

BUSRide 2009 Transit Bus Showcase

BUSRide 2009 Transit Bus Showcase—OEMs look to the future! Foton America Bus Co., Inc. was founded to compete on the world stage with the best manufacturing companies.

The Motorcoach Council will augment everyone’s good ideas

The hefty $25,000 donation from the Tennessee Motor Coach Association and the $10,000 North Carolina operators put together should send a strong signal that this industry is starved for attention and anxious for the exposure the Motorcoach Council promises to provide.

Megabus is a tale of two countries

A standing joke at the headquarters of the Stagecoach Group, Perth, Scotland, is how the staff must be ready on Monday mornings to hear of some new project that co-founder and chief executive Brian Souter has dreamed up over the weekend. The man is always thinking of novel ideas to drive the company forward, and many of them have been very successful. Stagecoach is without doubt the most innovative bus operator in the United Kingdom.

Dragon Bus fires up the Northeast Corridor

Based on the success and growing popularity of Megabus, and the obvious demand for low fare express coach service in cities throughout the Northeast Corridor, Coach USA, Paramus, NJ, presents Dragon Bus as its newest iteration on intercity service.

Four County Transit staves off drought

Rain is grace, wrote the late author John Updike. In southwest Virginia, Four County Transit (FCT) has found his notion to be very true. Over the course of two stormy days this past winter FCT managed to captured 10,000 gallons of precious rainwater — enough to wash 400 buses.

New BRT campaign rocks San Diego

San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) has taken a dramatic step in replacing its aging fleet with 26 new 60-ft articulated BRT buses from North American Bus Industries (NABI), Anniston, AL, and the marketing campaign to promote the purchase reflects the excitement of the agency and the community.