Semper Paratus, or "Always Ready," could be used to describe the buses that transport students to Madison schools.

To ensure that vehicles are "always ready," regardless of the weather, the contracted yellow buses are inspected and maintained daily and must be in proper mechanical condition so as to comply with all requirements by the WI Department of Transportation, the WI Department of Public Instruction and the MMSD.

All school buses are also inspected by the Wisconsin State Patrol at least once a year.

To help ensure that children have no disruptions in bus service, the contracts that MMSD has with bus contractors specifies a maximum age limit for each vehicle and a required number of spare buses on hand each day.

Early to bed and early to rise

Each of the contractor's bus drivers must arrive and be on duty at least one hour prior to the time the first bus must leave for service each morning.

During the winter, the contractors must provide either inside heated storage for buses, freeze plug engine heaters, or other means to ensure that all buses, including standby or spare buses, have a minimum inside temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit when students are transported.

While we normally minimize the idling of school bus engines to limit exposure of children to diesel exhaust fumes, if the temperatures dip below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the buses are allowed to idle for up to 15 minutes in order to reach the 40 degree inside temperature.

Never say never

In my 22+ years of working for MMSD, I can recall having problems keeping buses running on only two days. In January 1994, we were experiencing a very bitter cold spell. With the wind-chill, the temperature dipped to minus 65 degrees. The buses started, but the diesel fuel gelled causing the buses to shutdown. Madison Schools had to be closed on both days.

We did not get down to that temperature on February 5 of this year, the day the MMSD closed due to the cold.