Buzz
For many, taking the school bus was a memorable childhood experience, with its iconic leather seats, challenging vertical windows, and the unmistakable red stop sign protruding from the driver’s side. But perhaps what stands out the most is the school bus's signature yellow color, which has stayed unchanged for decades. So, what led to the selection of this color?
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, children arrived at school in whatever vehicle could get them there on time, whether it was a horse-drawn carriage or a wooden cart on a truck chassis. There were no standardized transportation methods, which created problems for both teachers and parents concerned about safety, as well as for the manufacturers who needed to streamline production to be profitable.
In 1939, with a $5000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, Columbia University professor Frank Cyr organized a conference at Teachers College in Manhattan. He brought together engineers and experts from companies like Ford and DuPont to create national standards for school buses, marking a pivotal moment in school transportation history.
The conference established 44 standards for school buses, covering dimensions like height and width, and even the color of the vehicles. To determine the best color, they displayed a range of shades from light lemon-yellow to dark orange-red along the wall of one of Columbia’s Grace Dodge Hall rooms, eventually narrowing it down to three shades of yellow. The experts chose golden yellow because its distinct hue—originally named “National School Bus Chrome” and later updated to “National School Bus Glossy Yellow”—is most visible during the early morning and evening hours when buses are in operation. Bold black lettering on the chassis completed the design, aiming to make people more cautious around the buses.
After the conference, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officially recorded the color as Federal Standard No. 595a, Color 13432. Initially, around 35 states followed the new standard; by 1974, all states had adopted Glossy Yellow for their buses, with Minnesota being the last to transition from its “Minnesota Golden Orange” to the new color.
School buses aren’t the only vehicles featuring this eye-catching yellow. It can also be seen on European mail trucks and yellow cabs in New York City.
