While it still bears the same familiar yellow and black hues as its cousins, the newest addition to the Dowagiac Union Schools’ school bus fleet stands out in a big way.

With a sleeker, modern looking frontend and top of the line LED lighting, the district’s newest vehicle more closely resembles a metropolitan public bus than a traditional school bus. With only around 100 miles on it so far, the vehicle is still in pristine condition.

“It’s a very pretty vehicle,” said Superintendent Paul Hartsig. “It still has that new bus smell.”

Soon, it will join the rest of the fleet in ferrying local students to and from class, sporting events and other school functions.

The district purchased the new 2016 Blue Bird All American T3 bus back in October via a competitive bidding program with the state, for $103,000, Hartsig said. Crews with the transportation department were finally able to get their hands on the vehicle in March, and have been hard prepping it for use on the road ever since, installing onboard cameras and GPS equipment.

The new vehicle’s advantages run far deeper than just appearances, though. In addition to providing improved ergonomics for the person in the driver’s seat, the newer model offers improved fuel economy, better power efficiency and lower harmful emissions compared to older ones, said Transportation Supervisor Kevin Kelm.

The bus is the first new mass transit vehicle the district has purchased in over two years, replacing one that has been on the road since 1999, Kelm said.

“Kelm has developed a schedule for us to purchase new buses so we can stay on top of things,” Hartsig said. “We transport a lot of students, so we want to make sure we’re doing it in as safe a manner
as possible.”

In general, the transportation department tries to phase existing vehicles out of service by the time they are 12 to 15 years, depending on the amount miles and condition of the bus, Kelm said. The district has 17 buses comprising its fleet, with the oldest vehicle in service since 2000. Each vehicle travels an average between 25,000 and 30,0000 miles every year, the supervisor said.

“It’s not the most glamorous part of education, but it’s certainly a part we need, since we need to get students back and forth to school everyday,” Hartsig said.

The transportation department is looking to the deploy the vehicle by the time school resumes from spring break, which begins next week, Kelm said.