The Main Reason
School buses are yellow because of the safety rules and regulations in some areas of the U.S. demand it.
Fun Fact about American School Buses
It seems like the bright yellow school buses have been running through American towns forever, but they have only been around since 1939. Before the automobile industry boomed, most kids had to walk to school. In more populous areas, children rode in horse-drawn carriages known as “school hacks.” However, with the arrival of the automobile, things started to change.
The First School Buses
Wayne Corporation (previously known as Wayne Works) began manufacturing horse-drawn “school hacks” or “kid hacks” in the late 1800s and switched to the production of motorized models in 1914. In the motorized “school hack,” kids sat along the sides facing in towards the aisle. Later on, Bluebird Company started manufacturing a vehicle that looked a little more like the buses we know today.
Standardizing School Buses
In the 1930s, school buses were in circulation all around the United States, but most of them were repurposed vehicles, and safety standards did not exist. Nine years later, in 1939, the concerns about safety were heard. Doctor Frank Cyr organized a conference at the University of Manhattan where transportation officials from all forty-eight states attended, and together, they developed forty-four national standards for school buses.
Why They Chose Yellow
The conference participants settled on a bright yellow hue because of its ability to grab attention on the road. Even though the color change was voluntary, since 1974, school buses in the U.S. are all painted yellow.
Curiously, the original color of yellow introduced and widely used after the 1939 conference was pure, bright yellow. That evolved into the yellow-orange color we know today.
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