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The distinctive yellow color of school buses in the United States is largely attributed to Dr. Frank W. Cyr, an educator and professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. In 1939, Dr. Cyr organized a conference that brought together transportation officials, school bus manufacturers, and paint experts to establish national standards for school buses, including their color.
During this conference, the participants agreed on a specific shade of yellow, known as "National School Bus Glossy Yellow," because it was highly visible in various lighting conditions, particularly at dawn and dusk. This color was chosen for its safety benefits, as it made the buses more noticeable to other drivers and pedestrians, thereby reducing the risk of accidents.
Dr. Cyr's work and the consensus reached at the 1939 conference led to the widespread adoption of this yellow color for school buses across the United States. His contributions earned him the nickname "Father of the Yellow School Bus."
Dr. Cyr often led conferences on how to meet the special needs of the country school, and it was at one such national get-together in 1939 that he earned his sobriquet.
At the time, three million American children were transported to classes. Districts used various vehicles, including trucks and, in one case in Kansas, horse-drawn wheat wagons. Manufacturers showed little interest in making school buses because there were no nationwide standards, and it was uneconomical to mass-produce them.
After studying the situation, Dr. Cyr summoned educators and administrators to meet with automotive engineers at Teachers College. The result was 44 national standards for various vehicle parts, from the doors to its dimensions.
Most of the specifications have since changed, but one constant remains: the yellow color with black lettering, a combination chosen to give buses maximum visibility at dawn and dusk.
Dr. Cyr also set up projects intended to improve education in small, remote districts and provide more subjects of instruction. In the 1950's, he experimented with teaching via telephone and helped establish an educational television system for the Catskills.
He was also an early advocate of creating national curriculum standards, while keeping the authority to teach them at the local level. He encouraged community leadership and school involvement, and felt that rural students deserved an education as good as any.
Dr. Cyr's link to the American countryside dated to his boyhood. He was born on a farm near Franklin, Neb., attended a one-room school and remembered watching wagon trains moving across the Great Plains.
