The Capacity Issue

Transportation directors, seeking to maximize the capacity of their buses and control overall transportation costs, rely on the flexible capacity of unbelted seats.  In the past, seat designs that included lap-shoulder belts have taken away this flexibility and reduced overall bus capacity.

The addition of lap-shoulder belts to new buses has, in most cases, required the school district to do one or more of the following:

• Purchase additional buses — This approach not only greatly increases overall equipment costs, but it also drives costs associated with additional drivers, fuel, maintenance, insurance and storage.
• Reduce routes — This approach forces students to use other, less safe forms of transportation to get to and from school.
• Optimize routes — This approach requires the district to be more flexible with school schedules and bus routing so that the same number of buses, equipped with lap-shoulder belts, can maintain service to the same number of students.

When all the capacity issues are on the table, few school districts are able to advance the cause of adding lap-shoulder belts for the safety of the students.

New Solutions to the Capacity Issue

• SafeGuard FlexSeat™ offers lap-shoulder belt protection, safely transporting three elementary age children or two high school students on a standard seat.
• Bus seating capacity is not reduced, so no additional buses are required in the fleet.
• Since fleet capacity is maintained, there are no additional costs associated with transportation, such as fuel, insurance, personnel and parking.
• FlexSeat is designed to meet all current and future federal and state requirements for school bus seating.