Why Are School Buses Yellow?

Image Courtesy of Bernd Moehle/Wikimedia Commons

Image Courtesy of Bernd Moehle/Wikimedia Commons

Throughout the vast majority of America the school bus is considered one of the most easily recognizable vehicles, along with ambulances and fire trucks. While school buses do have some flashing lights, they don’t compare with the brilliant light show that emergency vehicles are known for. Instead, school buses are known for a few things: many of us rode in them nearly every day from a young age, their unique shape, and their trademark shiny yellow.

Yes, the first word many people use when they are asked to describe a school bus is ‘yellow’, but have you ever actually asked why public school buses across the country all use the same standardized color?

The answer lies a way back in the history of busing, as Emily Upton from TodayIFoundOut.com discovered. Before motorized vehicles, children were brought to schools via horse-drawn carriages called “school hacks” or “kid hacks.” Of course, these were relatively rare across the country, but most importantly they definitely weren’t bright yellow. Most children walked to school or rode farm wagons to the school house.

The most prominent manufacturer of school hacks was Wayne Works, who transitioned to automobile chassis in 1914 with the rise of automobiles. These early buses were designed so that students sat on the perimeter facing inward instead of the front-face seating we have become accustomed to. Around this time, Blue Bird Company began working on the creation of the style of bus most similar to what we use today.

Up to the 1930’s, the majority of “buses” were actually repurposed vehicles that varied in style greatly. But, parents were cautious about the safety of school buses. This fear was the motivation for a period of standardization that began in the early 30’s and culminated in a conference in 1939, at the University of Manhattan.

Dr. Frank Cyr organized the conference, intent on developing school bus standards, after travelling the country and studying the types of vehicles being used and the little safety precautions they had. The conference brought together officials from all 48 states that made up the United States at the time and together they created 44 national standards for school buses.

While these standards addressed a wide assortment of safety concerns, one of the most lasting was the decision that all buses be “national school bus glossy yellow”, initially referred to as “national school bus chrome.”

The color was chosen specifically for its attention-grabbing nature. Yellow was an especially useful color as it is particularly visible in the early morning and late evening, when school buses are typically in use.

In the wake of the conference, 35 states began to paint their buses the standardized color, and slowly the color began to spread to other states and even part of Canada. However, it wasn’t until 1974 that all school buses in the United States were painted this color.

It seems like a small detail, but the classic yellow of the school bus has become the signature of the safest vehicle on the road and there is little chance it will change anytime soon.