Can you imagine a school bus that isn’t yellow? No, me neither
School buses are yellow. We all know this, but why is that the case?
In the US today, an estimated 26 million students use a yellow bus to get the school every single day.
I mean, those who are not American know that US school buses are yellow based off the countless films set in the US they’ve watched.
But, of course, yellow school buses did not come about because of movies, but instead a man named Frank Cyr.
School buses haven’t always been yellow. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In the 1930s, Cyr conducted a study of school transportation, where he discovered students were catching a ride to school in all sort of vehicles in a variety of different colors.
Come 1939, it was decided a set color for school buses would be appropriate, so a bunch of industry experts and engineers joined together at a conference in the April of that year.
Cyr and many others believed a set color scheme for school buses would improve safety, while also lowering costs as manufacturers would be able to mass-produce buses.
A few states had already been adopting a yellow bus prior to the new standard being decided, but it wasn’t long until every school bus in the US turned yellow.
Minnesota, the last state to align with the standards, ditched its ‘Minnesota Golden Orange’ for yellow in 1974.
Speaking of the state of school buses prior to the new standards coming to fruition, Cyr admitted local districts were ‘in trouble’.
“The local districts all told me they were in trouble. They all said state officials had standards for manufacturing vehicles and kept changing them,” he said at the conference, as per the Los Angeles Times.
The color change improved safety. (Getty Stock Photo)
Cyr added: “The state departments were even more unhappy. They lacked expertise. They didn’t know how to establish standards.
“I visited bus companies and they were having more trouble than anyone,” Cyr continued. They had to cope with the differing rules, requirements and tastes from 48 states.
“For every different color, the bus companies had to have different booths to spray-paint them.”
Very much like the iconic red buses found in London, the yellow US school buses have withstood the test of time.
Cyr previously said this was due to the bus’ incredible record on improving safety ever since they were introduced.
And recalling of how school buses were prior to the yellow, Cyr concluded: “Red, white and blue was camouflage, if you think about it. It was to make kids patriotic. It was well-meaning, but they made the buses less visible. And I don’t think it really had much effect on patriotism.”
