I haven't driven an Re, but have heard they're quieter, which would be nice.. and also not getting cooked in the driver's area by the engine on an FE would be a very welcomed change lol

We paid $123,500 per bus for these 2024's.. the 2025's we just got we paid $137,250 per bus.. It all depends on your the district and they price they can negotiate with the manufacturer/dealer

School buses haven't changed too much in terms of design and functionality.. only major differences are newer, more "fuel efficient" engine/transmission combinations, as well as some safety features like child check, traction/stability systems, back-up cameras and blind zone monitors. As far as passenger AC goes, pretty much any "base model" (for lack of better term) bus isn't going to have it. It is an option, and at the time we ordered our 2023's like the one in this video, passenger AC was close to $10kUSD per bus.. and since it is a government vehicle, there is no negotiation on prices. Bluebird, International, Thomas.. all of them have set prices and that is what a district pays. None of our buses, as well as most other districts in my state (Ohio) don't order buses with AC for 3 main reasons- the added cost per bus, the fact that it would only really be used a handful of times before the end of school, and at the beginning, and the maintenance. Buses generally sit over the summer, and components go bad, rodents get into things and it costs more money to fix, as well as it becomes another thing to worry about being 100% when it comes time for state inspection, so the only cooling we have is roof hatches vented, and windows down lol. The base price for this bus- a 2023 model year- was $110,500USD per bus.. and that is with no options. The 2024 model year buses we ordered, completely basic are $123,400USD per bus. There really aren't any trim levels like you'd have in a passenger car/truck.. it's one basic layout and some options if you should desire them. I don't think the EPA rates heavy vehicles due to the wide range of configurations and uses.. the "ratings" you see are typically manufacturer estimates. Real world figures.. I run a route that is all city and get about 6mpg on a good day.. when it's cold, and we high idle for warm up in the morning, and to keep them warm between routes, it goes down to about 4-5mpg. Highway driving, depending on load/terrain they get about 6-8mpg - but that is with the standard Cummins 6.7 diesel.. there is a propane variant, as well as a gas variant, but I'm not sure what those figures look like as all we run is diesels

@@danlenox1430 Thanks for your detailed reply. It makes sense that school buses haven't changed much because they have already been required to meet the strict FMVSS 222 structural crashworthiness specific to them. That is why regular 15-passenger vans aren't allowed as school buses. I actually really like it that school bus manufacturers keep features to a minimum because it reduces costs for the purchaser, and consequently minimizes taxes to the taxpayer. It seems like school buses are sgnificantly cheaper than the regular transit bus of the same size. If this is the case, then why don't transit agencies just order school buses in order to keep fares low and minimize taxpayer expense? Besides fuel economy standards, school buses have actually changed quite a bit mechanically because of tightening air pollution regulations from tailpipe emissions, which is a good thing. However, what I would like to see is a federal standard requiring all highway vehicles including school buses and transit buses to be safe in a rollover collision, which effectively requires three-point seat belts. That is because such vehicle have a high centre of gravity and are prone to overturning when T-boned. As for cars, they are adding too many non-safety and non-efficiency features that just make modern cars too heavy and increase fuel consumption. I actually wish automakers still offered basic models but with modern crashworthiness standards, modern active safety features, and modern low emissions.

@@00crashtest The emissions controls was a good idea in theory, but is the worst thing to happen to a diesel engine. The entire DEF/after-treatment system is problematic. From clogged DPF's(diesel particulate filters) to DEF injection heads, lines, sensors, etc.. it is a costly, time consuming pain in the a**.. which is why you see many truck owners deleting the emissions treatment system. We've had plenty of problems on our buses, even new ones due to the control systems having issues.. where as our older, pre-emissions buses never had issues. As far as seat belts.. that's a big no. School buses are built using compartmentalization, designed with the sole purpose of keeping the kids safe, and it works really well. There is decades of research behind this. A school bus fatality is exceptionally rare, as are serious injuries. In event of a fire, a school bus burns to the ground in about 3-3.5 minutes, which means the driver has under that time to get up to 84 kids off the bus, on top of other things we're mandated to do.. Making sure those kids are out of seat belts, should they get jammed up or malfunction cuts in to the time and will inevitably lead to higher injury/fatality counts. Same for a water accident.. it is way more stress and responsibility on the driver, for something that isn't necessary. There is over 50 years of research on seat belt usage and compartmentalization in school buses, all of which has pointed to seat belts doing more harm than good. Completely agree with you about passenger cars adding too many unnecessary features/options. It's just more things that can go wrong, and cost an arm and a leg to replace

@@danlenox1430 Compartmentalization works well for front and rear collisions, but does nothing to protect passemgers from being thrown across the aisle in a side impact or against the roof in an overturning collision in a severe side impact. Just look at the school bus crash tests done by CAPE. Also, the purpose of emissions controls is for air pollution control, not for reliability. I very much support the emissions regulations and if one is that adamant about reliability, then they can get a natural gas or petroleum gas engine, which is just as powerful and affordable as diesel, but even cleaner than gasoline. I'm all for clean air vehicles, and it is easy for a CNG or LPG engine to have zero soot and ultra low NOx in the exhaust due to complete combustion from the high purity fuel.

We used to have Motorola for the buses, Kenwood for one of the schools, and some off brand for the other schools. They were able to get Hytera's for the buses, and all the schools for a fraction of the price that it would've cost to use Motorola or Kenwood, so that was the obvious choice. So far we haven't had any issue with them, and we have direct communication with the schools and the police dispatch if needed, which cuts down on response time if we need someone

Yes. You can still order them with the light monitors, but my district doesn't spec ours with them because it's an added cost and something else that could go wrong.. plus it helps ensure that drivers are doing a proper pre-trip and actually checking the lights like we're required to

But my bus has blue steps and blue floors

And why’s there a bees nest here is this bus sitting here from 2022

It sat at the dealer's lot for about 2 weeks until the rest of our order came in, and they had a real bad bee/wasp problem up there.. there were even a few inside one of the buses

My last bus was an 07 AA FE with a Cat C7. I was gonna try to make a video of it at some point before the school year is over because it's being retired/sold off after this year.. just gotta find a time when I can do it

@@danlenox1430 love the cat c7’s. my bus that I ride is a 07 Thomas HDX and I’m not gonna get a new one for maybe 2 years 💀

They’re green because that’s the color the customer ordered lol

No. These buses are part of our districts current fleet

BRUH

It was one of the many things that came messed up from the factory lol.. but my head mechanic said if it works, leave it alone, so it's still there lol

Nope.. Engine block heaters. Keeps things warm, which makes cranking/starting easier in cold weather, and helps the bus engine warm up faster.

I'll try to.. I have to find my gopro and equipment

@@danlenox1430 ok and thanks

Front & rear.. you can order them with LED, but this is the way our head mechanic spec's them. We've never really had a problem with the incandescent lights, and they last for a good bit of time.. plus we have a huge surplus of them from when our retired buses and buying a bunch when things were cheap lol

For sale o no

@@danlenox1430 this is for sale

@@romeorivera289 No it is not for sale. It is part of our district's current fleet

$110,400

Yes they are

They definitely are a reliable engine and will run forever.. but all of ours become very temperamental/finicky when it comes to starting if it's under 20 unless they've been plugged in. Even my box truck was that way.. but I'll gladly take an old Cat over the newer stuff any day

I hate how they put black around the outer part of the warning lights. I think it should stay like the original and be yellow around the warning lights and black only under the eyelash that houses the red and amber lights

Yes same!! I hate thar

@@bradbrown1240 I dont agree i like buses with the black around it and a hate t3fes

Yup. All 50 of our buses, a few dating back to 07 up to 2023 all have Allison 5 speed automatics in them.. It seems like it has more gears due to the way they shift, and the way the torque converter locks and unlocks. For a light/medium duty truck/bus, it seems most go with 5-6 speeds.. at least in my experience. The only commercial vehicle I've seen or driven that's had more than 6 forward gears is a heavy duty truck(class7) or semi.. You might be able to spec these buses with different engine/transmission combos, but I'm not sure..

this bus has a 5 speed automatic transmission, not sure what your talking about

Definitely only have 5 speed, they do shift odd so it feels like you're skipping gears