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The 1st "School Bus"
Wayne Works made horse-drawn carriages known as “school hacks” or “kid hacks” in Indiana. -
Facing inwards
By 1914, the automotive industry was beginning to boom, and Wayne Works saw a great opportunity to motorize its carriages. The design remained mostly the same, however, with students sitting along the walls of the bus while facing inward. There was also little protection from the weather -
Safety First
In 1930, Wayne Works introduced the first all-steel school bus body with safety glass windows. Nonetheless, parents were still increasingly concerned for the safety of their children. This led to the turning point in the history of the school bus in 1939, when Dr. Frank Cyr organized a conference at the University of Manhattan in order to develop school bus standards—to great success. -
Current Bus
Since then, all of the design tweaks, innovations, and improvements that have ever been applied to the school bus number in the hundreds, perhaps in the thousands. Fuel economy, safety, accessibility, maneuverability, and other important aspects of school buses have all been modified, revised, and improved. The most notable innovation among them is no doubt the mechanical stop signal arm that warns traffic of a stop in progress, which states began to require in the early 1950s. -
5 Years From Now
Buses will have wifi and screens in the back of the bus. -
20 Years From Now
Buses will be self-driven
