Honorable Larry Phillips, Chair, House Committee on Transportation
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB110 by Brown (Relating to the use of safety guards or flaps on certain buses.), As Introduced
No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
Local Government Impact
School districts with buses operated outside of municipalities would be required to equip the buses with rear safety guards or mud flaps.
School bus purchasing specifications include an option for rear or both front and rear flaps. Currently, approximately 39,318 school buses are in operation statewide. Assuming that all buses could travel outside of a municipality and assuming that at least 25 percent of the buses statewide are already equipped with rear mud flaps, approximately 29,489 buses could require rear mud flaps. Assuming that installation could be accomplished locally at little to no cost and an average cost of $36 per bus to install rear mud flaps, the approximate cost to school districts statewide would be $1,061,604. Costs would vary by school district depending on how many school buses required rear mud flaps.
It is assumed that school bus specifications would be changed so that rear mud flaps would be a requirement for all buses purchased on or after the effective date of this bill, which would increase the cost of a new bus by approximately $20 to $70.