Although that yellow school bus pulls up every day without out fail, Al Karam knows exactly what goes into keeping 143 buses and 116 routes running smoothly and safely.
He also knows exactly what goes into getting outside at 3 a.m. to check on road conditions during a potential snow day before reporting back to the district superintendent.
Karam is Bethlehem School District’s transportation director, and it is his job to oversee every one of the 3.2 million miles traveled by Bethlehem buses each year, which are driven by 133 drivers and assisted by 34 bus attendants.
As a former Marine, Karam runs a tight ship, and he works with what he describes as a dedicated, hardworking and tight-knit staff. On a Tuesday, Oct. 14, tour of the district’s facilities, Karam walked through a day in the life of his busy transportation department.
We’ve got 170 people working here, and the only time you’ll see them all here at one time is when we have our monthly training meeting, Karam said, walking through a break room complete with a dispatcher headquarters. `There are 632 mandates that we have to adhere to.`
The room was recently expanded as part of a new capital construction project for the district. A new fully automated bus wash was also added to the facility.
Before the bus wash, each bus had to be washed by a single pressure washer, and there was no way to properly wash the undercarriage of the vehicles, a place where salt and other chemicals can wreak mechanical havoc.
Karam said something as simple as keeping the buses clean can save a lot of money in maintenance in the long run.
The bus garage consists of three large bays where seven mechanics with 67 years of combined experience work on and maintain all 143 buses.
Maintenance and safety is the key priority there.
`Our goal is to get to at least five large buses a day,` Karam said of the rigorous 21-day inspection schedule needed to maintain each bus. On top of the district’s inspections, the state’s Department of Transportation sends an inspector every six months to school’s transportation department to do its own inspection.
Bethlehem now also touts a 2.4 percent DOT out-of-service rate for 2007-08, which is among one of the best in the state, according to Karam.
`Before I got here in 2000, they had a high of like 24 or 26 percent out-of-service rate,` Karam said. `That means that one out of four or so buses were down for one reason or another. That’s not good, it should be below 10 percent.`
He credits the addition of two mechanics to the staff and community support for the department with helping the district get the rate down so radically in less than a decade.
The district recently restructured its bus routes, which on an average year takes 732 hours to map out for a coming school year, in order to maximize the number of children on buses and find the shortest routes possible.
During a Wednesday, Oct. 1, board of education transportation department presentation, Karam answered the question frequently asked of why the buses spotted around town don’t seem full of students.
Karam said that it often depends on where on the route the bus is, whether it is just starting or ending, and the driver may also be between routes.
`You can only transport so many students over that time and distance and still make it to school on time,` he told board members.
When it comes to alternative fuels Karam said he has spoken with Superintendent Michael Tebbano about the possibility of hybrid or other types of buses to be added to the fleet. However, Karam said, the district doesn’t want to invest in first-generation technology, and that it could cost just as much to replace a single battery pack as it would to buy a whole new bus.
Tebbano agreed, saying it is something the district will keep an eye on.
`This is something that we are certainly going to continue to look at as time goes on and these technologies develop,` Tebbano said.
Fuel prices do continue to be volatile, Karam pointed out, adding that it can make budgeting very difficult. For example, in 2002 the district was paying 68 cents for a gallon of diesel as opposed to $3.46 this year.
However, Karam quickly pointed out, there is only one thing that is the most important aspect of the school bus for any parent.
`Riding on the yellow bus is eight times safer then being in a personal car,` Karam said.“