Interpretation ID: 21095b

Mr. James P. Liesenfelt
Transit Director
Space Coast Area Transit
401 South Varr Avenue
Cocoa, FL 32922

Dear Mr. Liesenfelt:

This responds to your letter asking how our school bus regulations apply to your vanpool program. I appreciate this opportunity to respond. You explain that Space Coast Area Transit (SCAT), a public transit agency, purchases 7- to 15-passenger vans and then leases the vans to a contractor, VPSI, Inc. (VPSI). VPSI in turn leases the vans to commuter groups or agencies, some of which use the vans to take students to school.

In a telephone conversation with Dorothy Nakama of my staff, you explained that when SCAT purchases a passenger van, it does not do so with the intent to transport only or primarily a particular group of passengers (i.e., retired people, churchgoers, school children). SCAT's expectation is that each van is available for lease to nonprofit organizations to transport any group of passengers. Market demand determines which group of passengers is transported at any particular time. You also explained that SCAT relies on grants from the Federal Transit Administration to purchase the vans. Since SCAT also purchases large buses (seating upwards of 40 persons) designed for travel on fixed routes, the 7- to 15-passenger vans are not used on fixed routes, or as part of a common carrier route.

By way of background, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is authorized to issue and enforce Federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSSs) applicable to new motor vehicles. Our statute at 49 U.S.C. 30112 requires any person selling or leasing a new vehicle (leasing a new vehicle that was not previously sold) to sell or lease a vehicle that meets all applicable standards. Accordingly, persons selling or leasing a new "school bus" must sell or lease a vehicle that meets the safety standards applicable to school buses. Our statute defines a "schoolbus" as any vehicle that is designed for carrying a driver and more than 10 passengers and which NHTSA decides is likely to be "used significantly" to transport "preprimary, primary, and secondary" students to or from school or related events. 49 U.S.C. 30125. By regulation, the capacity threshold for school buses corresponds to that of buses -- vehicles designed for carrying more than ten (10) persons (49 CFR 571.3(b)) For example, a 15-person van that is likely to be used significantly to transport students is a "school bus." Persons selling or leasing new 15-person vans for such use must sell or lease a van that meets our school bus standards. Persons selling or leasing a 7- to 10-person van for school bus are not subject to our school bus regulations, since the van is not a "school bus" under our definition.

In the situation you describe, SCAT purchases (presumably new) vans, then leases them to VPSI, which leases the vans to various non-profit groups or agencies, some of which may provide school transportation. Your situation is analogous to that of the taxi service described in the enclosed February 19, 1998 letter to Mr. Bob Presley of Harreld Chevrolet. In that situation, Mr. Presley (a vehicle dealer) asked whether new buses he sold to a taxi service to be used in part to take children to and from school must meet Federal school bus safety standards. Our answer to Mr. Presley was he did not have to sell only new school buses: "In view of the small percentage of time that any vehicle in the taxi fleet will be used to transport students, I have concluded that the vehicles in the taxi fleet are not 'significantly' used to transport students from school."

Similarly, in the situation you describe, because there are various transportation customers and specific vehicles are not reserved for school transportation, we believe vehicles in the fleet will be used only a small percentage of time (and not "significantly" used) to transport school children to or from school or school activities. Therefore, a dealer is not obligated to sell new school buses to SCAT.

Our safety standards do not apply to vehicles after the first purchase of a vehicle for purposes other than resale, e.g., after SCAT purchases the vans. Further, because we do not regulate the use of vehicles, we do not prohibit schools or other transportation providers from using non-school buses to transport school children. However, each State has the authority to set its own standards regarding the use of motor vehicles, including school buses. For this reason, Florida law should be consulted to see if there are regulations about how children must be transported.

In conclusion, we wish to emphasize that school buses are one of the safest forms of transportation in this country, and that we therefore strongly recommend that all buses that are used to transport school children be certified as meeting NHTSA's school bus safety standards. In addition, using vehicles that do not meet NHTSA's school bus standards to transport students could result in liability in the event of a crash.

I am enclosing NHTSA's publication: "School Bus Safety: Safe Passage for America's Children." This brochure explains the safety enhancements of a school bus that makes school buses safer than non-school buses such as 15-passenger vans.

Our belief that vehicles providing the safety of school buses should be used whenever transporting children in buses is shared by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). At a June 8, 1999, public meeting, the NTSB issued the attached abstract of a special investigative report on nonconforming buses. The NTSB issued the report after investigating four crashes in 1998 and 1999 in which 9 people were killed and 36 injured when riding in "nonconforming buses." NTSB defines "nonconforming bus" as a "bus that does not meet the FMVSSs specific to school buses." Most of the victims, including eight of the fatalities, were children.

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions about NHTSA's programs, please feel free to contact Dorothy Nakama of my staff at this address or at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
Enclosures

ref:VSA#571.3
d.4/21/2000