On Saturday, March 25, several members of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Transportation Department participated in the 60th Annual Orange County School Bus Safety “Roadeo.” The event was particularly special because it marked the first time PYLUSD has been able to participate since the pandemic. It was held at the Garden Grove Unified School District and hosted by the Driver Trainer Advisory Council (DTAC) and California Association of Transportation Officials (CASTO). Several other school districts from across the state participated, including local districts from Fullerton and Huntington Beach.
The district’s bus driver competitors—Danielle, Jorge, Walt, and Cheryll—each worked hard and dedicated much of their free time to preparing for this event. They spent several Saturday mornings sharpening their skills.
When asked about why he wanted to compete in roadeo, Jorge shared: “I think that if it helps me practice to be a better and safer driver, then that’s a great thing.”
And that is exactly the district’s goal in participating in the Bus Roadeo—to create drivers that are always improving for the sake of student safety. CASTO who oversees the Roadeo, shares the following about the competition:
The main focus of a School Bus Roadeo is SAFETY. The more training and practice a driver has the safer he or she will be.
At the Roadeo drivers compete against each other using their skills in precision driving. Each event is either timed or measured to determine the score. The events consist of an obstacle course which includes backing, parallel parking, student loading/unloading, right and left hand turns, and written exams on rules and regulations and vehicle inspection.
Roadeo is a great skill builder that is beneficial to the drivers, the company, school district and the students that ride the bus.
https://castoways.org/Roadeos
“I’d also like to note all the other PYLUSD Transportation team, friends, and family that came out to help judge and support our team!” shared Jeff Vogt, Driver Instructor. “The support and love were amazing from everyone!”
Members of the PYLUSD Transportation Department were responsible for judging the parallel parking event.
“The amount of people we had there caught the attention of several other districts who noted that we had one of the bigger turnouts,” Jeff Vogt noted.
The district’s Transportation Department consists of approximately ninety people dedicated to serving the transportation needs of Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District’s learners of all ages. The commitment made by each of these individuals is “to provide the safest, friendliest, and most efficient transportation services to our students.” It is under the direction of Director Richard Jimenez.
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