Interpretation ID: aiam3231
Highway Safety Engineer
Motor Vehicle Administration
Maryland Department of Transportation
6601 Ritchie Highway NE
Glen Burnie
MD 21062;
Dear Mr. Salehar: This responds to your February 8, 1980, letter asking whether it i permissible for a State to transport children to and from school on regular city transit buses. The answer to your question is yes, if the buses are on their scheduled transit routes and are transporting both school children and adults.; The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has defined schoo bus in a way that allows buses sold for use as common carriers in urban transportation to transport school children without complying with school bus standards. This definition is located in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 571.3. The agency permitted this exemption from the school bus safety standards in acknowledgment of the high costs involved in maintaining dual fleets of buses, one for school children and one for adults. Accordingly, the agency permitted cities with operating bus lines to transport children on those city buses. The agency also believes that joint bus fleets can help to conserve fuel.; The agency has made one restriction on the use of city buses t transport school children. The buses must be operating on their regular passenger routes and schedules and must not be operating on special school bus routes. Any vehicle that is operating exclusively as a school bus should be constructed in accordance with the school bus safety standards.; Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel