Welcome to Northampton County Transportation Department where safety is first.  The system's transportation department is committed to providing these students with safe, efficient and reliable transportation service that contributes to their overall academic success.

We believe a day of education begins and ends with Transportation!!

Report finds that traveling by school bus is one of the safest forms of transportation available

Throughout the nation, traveling by school bus has been proven to be one of the safest forms of transportation available. A recent report, entitled "The Relative Risks of School Travel: A National Perspective and Guidance for Local Community Risk Assessment", which was released by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies for Science (NAS) on June 18, 2002, says, in summary, that children are at far more risk traveling to and from school in private passenger vehicles - especially if a teen-age driver is involved - than in school buses. The report also indicates that bicycling and walking also place students at greater risk than traveling by school bus.

The report considered six transportation modes. In assessing buses, the committee looked at school buses as well as public transit buses and motorcoach services. Passenger vehicles were divided into two categories: those driven by individuals 19 or older and those driven by operators under 19 years of age, mostly students. Data on pedestrians and bicyclists traveling to and from school also were examined.

The report shows that every year, about 800 school-age children are killed in motor vehicle crashes during normal school travel hours (weekday mornings and afternoons during school months) accounting for about 14 percent of the 5,600 child deaths that occur on the nation's roadways. Of these 800 deaths, only about 2 percent are school-bus related, while 74 percent occur in private passenger vehicles and 22 percent are the result of pedestrian or bicycle accidents. More than half of all deaths of children between age 5 and 18 occur during normal school travel hours when a teen-ager is driving.

For answers to any additional questions regarding school bus transportation, please feel free to contact the system's transportation department directly.