Expect more security on school buses, including video as well as attention from the DHS Transportation Security Administration. Photo courtesy PRNewsFoto/First Student, Inc.

More than a third of adults involved in student transportation remember their school bus driver's name, according to a poll for First Student. Now and into the future, they will also acknowledge security cameras and their value on their buses. Besides providing a memorable experience, school buses are the safest way for children to get to and from school.

Aside from better screening, training and supervision of bus drivers, school districts have installed or plan to install security video cameras in their buses for deterrence and after-incident forensics.

The transition from analog video surveillance to network video surveillance equipment is forecast to drive growth of more than seven percent for the mobile video surveillance equipment market in trains, streetcars, and buses over the next five years, according to IMS Research. The growth is visible when it comes to school buses.

School bus security has a measure of homeland security, too. For example, the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) School Transportation Security Awareness (STSA) program was developed by TSA in conjunction with the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, the National Association of Pupil Transportation and the National School Transportation Association to provide much needed security awareness information and training to the school transportation industry. STSA focuses on terrorist and criminal threats to school buses, bus passengers and destination facilities. It is designed to provide school bus drivers, administrators and staff members with information that will enable them to effectively identify and report perceived security threats, as well as the skills to appropriately react and respond to a security incident should it occur.

STSA topics include:

• Terrorism Defined
• Who Are Terrorists?
• Define and Identify a Security Threat
• Define and Identify a Security Incident
• Potential Weapons and the Probability of Use

The STSA program consists of a 24-minute DVD of a simulated school bus hijacking and Web-based, self-study modules offered in both English and Spanish. The program was designed so the information can be obtained in a classroom setting or by individual self-guided study on-line. More details at: http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/tsnm/highway/stsa.shtm.