School Bus Yellow

School bus yellow is a color that was specifically formulated for use on school buses in North America in 1939. Originally officially named National School Bus Chrome, the color is now officially known in Canada and the U.S. as National School Bus Glossy Yellow.

The original pigment for this color was monoclinic lead(II) chromate (" chrome yellow") which had superior steel-protecting properties compared to other pigments. Due to lead chromate's toxicity, a result of both its lead and chromate content, and because of lead sulfide darkening after exposure to air, the pigment was initially replaced by a mixture of cadmium sulfide ("cadmium yellow") and enough cadmium orange or selenium pigments to produce the equivalent color. However, cadmium is also an expensive and toxic heavy metal, so many saturated-color pigments are now azo-based organics.

Origin

In April 1939, Frank W. Cyr, a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York, organized a conference that established 44 uniform national design, construction, and safety standards for school buses in America, including the exterior body color. The yellow-orange color was selected because black lettering on it was most legible in semi-darkness,Frank Cyr obituary, Columbia University
/ref> and because it was conspicuous at a distance and unusual enough to become associated with school buses and groups of children en route.

Cyr became known as the " Father of the Yellow School Bus."

Transportation officials from each of the 48 states, representatives from bus chassis and body manufacturers, and paint experts from DuPont and Pittsburgh Paints participated in the conference, which was funded by a $5,000 grant (more than $100,000 in 2022) from the Rockefeller Foundation. The yellow-orange color, in three slight variants to allow for different paint formulations, was adopted by the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) as Federal Standard No. 595a, Color 13432.

Outside North America

North American-style yellow school buses are being introduced in some parts of the United Kingdom, prompted by corporate links to the American industry, for example First Student UK, or a desire to re-brand school buses, such as West Yorkshire Metro's ''Mybus''.Executive Summary – Mybus report
on West Yorkshire Metro website, retrieved 2009-10-09

A similar shade of yellow was used in Santiago, Chile's bus lines between 1992 and 2007.

Yellow school buses are becoming more prevalent in Australia, e.g. in and around Adelaide.

Examples

File:2008 blue bird vision.jpg, A typical school bus in the United States
File:Older swedish mailbus.jpg, Swedish Scania-Vabis postbus from mid-1920s
File:DAAG_Postbus_Schwanheim_09052009.JPG, German postbus from 1925
File:Bergmann Paketzustellwagen Nuernberg 13032010.JPG, German Reichspost parcel delivery van from mid-1920s
File:Postkutsche Kaiserliche Post-Heusenstamm 05082011.JPG, Nineteenth century German Reichspost mail coach for both passengers and mail
File:Postbus-Grafenau1.jpg, German postbus (1980s)
File:Postauto-26.jpg, Swiss Saurer postbus from 1953
File:First H&D 68553.JPG, A First Student UK school bus painted in American school bus yellow
File:Small School Bus (Hong Kong).jpg, A Hong Kong nanny van in yellow

See also

* School bus (main article)
* New York City taxi color regulations
* Fire engine red
* International orange
* Safety orange
* List of colors

References

External links

Highway Safety Program Guidelines
archived from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.


archived from STN.

{{Shades of yellow, School bus yellow

School buses
Standards of the United States
Shades of yellow
1939 introductions