Snow closes school buses.

[ChrisGreaves]

Toronto Star
"Durham’s Catholic and public school boards cancelled bus service north of Hwy. 7, but said schools would remain open."
My early childhood was spent on top of The Pennines (UK).
My second childhood is drifting away in Toronto.
I don't understand the logic behind shutting down the school bus service when two inches, or so, of snow insulates the Good Earth. Nor when five feet ditto.

Schools remain open.

So, instead of a trained bus-driver driving a massive, highly visible (chrome yellow) bus with 40 children perched high above any regular impact zone, we have 20 to 40 harried later-for-work-than-ever parents slip-sliding-a-way through the streets.

If you live in a snow-belt, what happens when you get snow? Does your local society cancel those who are, perhaps, best suited to protection, and turn gormless idiots^(*) loose upon the roads?


(*) Current readers excepted, of course ...

[HansV]

My country doesn't know how to cope with snow anymore. We've had a relatively cold winter with more snow than any of the previous 30 years. In December, public transport came to a complete standstill several times.

[John Gray]

Snow closes school buses.

And there was me thinking that this was accomplished by a pair of electric motors, controlled by a switch next to the driver!

They do things different in Canada...

[Leif]

And there was me thinking that this was accomplished by a pair of electric motors, controlled by a switch next to the driver!

If you are referring to the door-closing mechanism, I think that is usually hydraulic/pneumatic rather than electric...

[John Gray]

If you are referring to the door-closing mechanism, I think that is usually hydraulic/pneumatic rather than electric...

Gosh, I wonder what drives the hydraulic/pneumatic mechanism, then?

[Leif]

If you are referring to the door-closing mechanism, I think that is usually hydraulic/pneumatic rather than electric...

Gosh, I wonder what drives the hydraulic/pneumatic mechanism, then?

Probably an internal combustion engine, assuming the bus is fitted with one.

[Skitterbug]

Toronto Star
"Durham’s Catholic and public school boards cancelled bus service north of Hwy. 7, but said schools would remain open."
My early childhood was spent on top of The Pennines (UK).
My second childhood is drifting away in Toronto.
I don't understand the logic behind shutting down the school bus service when two inches, or so, of snow insulates the Good Earth. Nor when five feet ditto.
Schools remain open.
So, instead of a trained bus-driver driving a massive, highly visible (chrome yellow) bus with 40 children perched high above any regular impact zone, we have 20 to 40 harried later-for-work-than-ever parents slip-sliding-a-way through the streets.
If you live in a snow-belt, what happens when you get snow? Does your local society cancel those who are, perhaps, best suited to protection, and turn gormless idiots^(*) loose upon the roads?
(*) Current readers excepted, of course ...

If our roads become dangerous for school bus service for the children, school will be closed for the day.

[Hey Jude]

Considering we do live in the snowbelt of NW OH schools were once again delayed 2 hours this morning due to blowing/drifting snow on the country roads. If all children lived within the Village limits, then this wouldn't create a problem. With all the semis traveling the State routes, it behooves administration officials to exercise due diligence with the lives of our kids. When I lived in Rhode Island I never remember getting snow days. We had buses that used chains and I don't recall any mishaps either. Nobody uses chains here and we no longer rotate snow tires with regular treads either. The advent of all-season tires did away with that practice. My dad always kept a pair of strap-on chains for bad roads when we lived in PA because the winding country roads were always so treacherous. I'd rather see schools delayed or closed when there is ice and blowing/drifting snow. With the extreme budget cuts this year, salt resources have been expended and only priority roads are plowed/salted.

[John Gray]

If you are referring to the door-closing mechanism, I think that is usually hydraulic/pneumatic rather than electric...

Gosh, I wonder what drives the hydraulic/pneumatic mechanism, then?

Probably an internal combustion engine, assuming the bus is fitted with one.

Somehow I am reminded of the nuclear power station whose design attempted to save money by omitting the steam generator which was a necessary component. The argument was that the steam system was self-maintaining, and just needed a little bit of water added every so often to cope with minor leaks. However, nobody had realised that there was a need for a body of steam to start the whole thing off, and so the steam plant had to be added on at huge expense.

When a bus is in the depot overnight, its doors are shut and the engine is turned off. In the morning, the first driver goes to the bus and presses a little button above and to the right side of the doors, which magically open. He then goes to his seat and turns the engine on, and presses another little button to his right, which closes the doors. I suspect that both these buttons are implicated in the transfer of electricity from the battery to the motors which open and close the bus doors. A secondary/slave door mechanism which is hydraulic or pneumatic may also be involved, of course.

[Leif]

Gosh, I wonder what drives the hydraulic/pneumatic mechanism, then?

Probably an internal combustion engine, assuming the bus is fitted with one.

Somehow I am reminded ......

When a bus is in the depot overnight, its doors are shut and the engine is turned off. In the morning, the first driver goes to the bus and presses a little button above and to the right side of the doors, which magically open. He then goes to his seat and turns the engine on, and presses another little button to his right, which closes the doors. I suspect that both these buttons are implicated in the transfer of electricity from the battery to the motors which open and close the bus doors. A secondary/slave door mechanism which is hydraulic or pneumatic may also be involved, of course.

Golly gosh - you really are reminded about things quite often!

Let's imagine for a moment that someone in the past has had the good fortune to invent a method for storing compressed air (for example). When the engine is running, a compressor will force air into this - let's call it a 'reservoir' - and allow its use after the engine has been switched off. Assuming the system has been designed well, the reservoir will still contained pressurised air even after a whole night, so that in the morning, the driver can simply press a switch - be it mechanical or electrical to switch a solenoid valve - and by clever use of pistons and levers, the door opens. (Note: no magic is required.)

My understanding is that pneumatics are used to both open and close the doors. The advantage of using a pneumatic system is that should pressure be lost, by definition the is no pressure preventing the manual opening and closing of the doors. On the other hand, an electric motor drive would require mechanical disengagement to allow manual opening or closing in the event of power failure.

Of course, I could be wrong, and in fact buses do use electricity, not only to open and close the doors, but also to power the hidden sound system that produces that "Pssshhhhaaaaaaw" sound when the doors open and close....

[steveh]

Children, Children, Children

Just because the bus did'nt come today because of snow there is no need to bicker. Instead you are both in detention and can read this

http://www.riconcorp.com/pdfs/ricondoors092805.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Afterwoods Leif can draw pictures and John can write 100 grammitical correct lines

[Bigaldoc]

And on the completely lo-tech side, the nursing home where I ride a big bus to take patients to outside appointments has a large, converted school bus. It's of course painted white and has the name Thomson-Hood Veterans Center painted on the sides.

When the driver gets out of that bus at the end of a run, he of course has shut off the engine and PUSHES the doors closed with his hands. He reverses the procedure upon initial entry. When the engine IS running he then has a toggle switch he uses to open and close the doors by electrical, mechanical or magical means!

[Leif]

Just because the bus did'nt come today because of snow there is no need to bicker. Instead you are both in detention...

[ChrisGreaves]

If our roads become dangerous for school bus service for the children, school will be closed for the day.

Makes sense to me. The alternative is non-sense.
As stated above, before the school-bus was , disposing of large transportation devices and substituting fragile ones makes no sense at all.