It isn't quite television, but a 60-second flash video on a web site about school transportation in North Carolina is eye-catching none-the-less.

What makes this site intriguing is that it demonstrates the integration of original research of issues affecting school transportation and the rapid dissemination of information made possible by the World Wide Web. Sponsored by the School Transportation Group of the Institute for Transportation Research and Education and the University of North Carolina, Highway Safety Research Center, the video, accompanied by narration, discusses the challenges transporters face in North Carolina as the school age population increases with mounting traffic congestion trailing in its wake.

The site is more though. It features the research projects conducted by the STG. For example, it appraises school travel safety in North Carolina precisely as recommended by the new National Academies of Science study of school bus safety. Altogether, nearly a dozen research projects are itemized, many having application beyond the borders of the state.

School Transportation News names this new web site as its feature site of the week. Visit the site at www.itre.ncsu.edu/STG. Or, if you just want to view the flash video, visit www.itre.ncsu.edu/stg/movie.html

Toby Tire Safety is one of the newest school bus web sites on the World Wide Web. The site offers a national school bus safety program for grammar school youngsters built around the 10 Rules for Safety.

The safety program comes with a work book for grades 4 - 6, and a 32-page coloring and activity book for all grade levels. It also includes a 10 minute, fully animated video starring Toby Tire, a 42-inch tall cartoon talking tire. Through carefully scripted dialogue with a narrator and a handful of children, Toby explains the principles of school bus safety. Toby's interaction with the cast of live persons makes Toby an animatron.

Developers are working on plans for "directed curriculum for kids and effective workshops for adults," explained Ted Randall, president of the not-for-profit organization that created the program.

To promote Toby Tire Safety nationwide, developers lined up sponsorship from American Airlines, Blue Bird Corp., First Student, Midwest Transit Equipment, Transpec Worldwide and VersaTrans Solutions. Visit this newest addition to school bus safety at http://www.tobytire.org/index.htm.