Administration Orders Vulnerability Assessment of Nation's School Buses

President Bush on Aug. 4, 2007, signed H.R. 1, a bill requiring that security risk assessments of school buses be performed within one year. The measure implements recommendations of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States and is titled "Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007."

Of particular interest to the school bus industry is Section 1538. It calls for a "comprehensive assessment of the risk of a terrorist attack on the Nation's school bus transportation system."

This section specifies the report shall include an assessment of the security risks to school buses including both publicly and privately operated systems, together with an assessment of actions already taken by operators or others to address identified security risks. The report will also assess whether additional actions and investments are necessary to improve the security of passengers traveling on school buses, and provide a list of such actions or investments if appropriate.

The bill directs the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to consult with administrators and officials of school systems, representatives of the school bus industry, including both publicly and privately operated systems, public safety and law enforcement officials, and nonprofit employee labor organizations representing school bus drivers.

As of August 2009, one year after the original due date of the report being presented to Congress, the threat assessment was complete but undergoing additional review at within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. William Arrington, GM of the Office of Highway and Motorcarrier at the Transportation Security Administration, said the report was to be formally presented to Congress during the fall and was expected to be released to the public by January 2010, a date that came and went. The lastest update from the feds is that Congress could release the report's contents by spring or summer of 2010.