School Buses by Country 2024

A school bus may be any type of bus used to transport students to and from school in addition to other school-related activities. However, they don't include charter and transit buses, which are typically used for longer trips. Some countries use school buses specifically designed for that purpose, while others use general-purpose buses.

North America

Specialized school buses are most common in Canada and the United States, where their iconic yellow color makes them easily distinguishable from other types of buses. These buses also have additional safety features, such as exterior warning lights and stop signs.

Canada primarily uses American-style school buses in rural areas, while using smaller buses with van chassis in larger cities. Public transportation operators in Canada also create the routes for school buses in urban areas.

The US currently has nearly half a million school buses that transport the majority of its 27 million K-12 students. School buses operations are independent of public transport, and their stops and schedules are coordinated with class times.

China

School buses in China aren't typically built for that purpose, as that country didn't even start using specialized school buses until 2008. In fact, not even private schools offered bus service until 1990. As a result, school buses are often overloaded, causing grave safety concerns. About 18,000 children die in traffic collisions each year, many of them involving school buses.

China has about 90 million students who need to ride school buses, requiring over one million buses to serve them. However, it only has slightly over 10,000 buses that meet legal safety requirements for school buses. While China does manufacture safe school buses on a commercial scale, virtually all of them are exported to other countries.

Russia

School buses in Russia have additional lights and alarms like those in North America and are allowed to stop traffic when loading and unloading students. They're also accompanied by aides and have onboard luggage space. In addition, school buses have distinctive signage and are limited to a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, or 37 miles per hour.

School buses in Russia were operated as part of the public transport fleet prior to 1999, with their route identification being the only difference from other mass transit buses. However, legislation enacted in that year created independent operation for school buses. The Russian government also began acquiring dedicated school buses in 2001.