Short bus

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For the Filter album, see, Short Bus (album).

For the film directed by John Cameron Mitchell, see Shortbus.

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Photograph of a typical short bus

A short bus is a school bus that is, as the name implies, shorter than a normal sized school bus. The buses are generally the standard eight feet wide and average twenty-four feet in length. They are roughly the same size as a van or minibus. The buses are capable of carrying ten to twenty children, as opposed to as many as 77 on a normal sized bus. Some have automated elevator lifts to safely lift wheelchair-using children into the bus without the use of stairs.

Short buses can be used by smaller school districts on routes with few students to pick up. However, a more prominent use is to transport small numbers of children to and from vocational school, or schools for children with emotional disorders or mental disabilities.

Because of this second use of the buses, "taking the short bus" or other phrases to that effect has become a pejorative slang term used to imply that someone has a mental retardation or emotional problems. Short buses themselves are also often referred to in a derogatory manner.

Short buses actually came into use in 1972, but it was not until a year later that short buses began to be used almost exclusively for the transportation of students with special needs. The usage of the short bus gained national attention after the 1979 short bus hijacking in Troutdale, Oregon, in which Robert Jackson, an escaped convict, forced his way onto a short bus as it stopped one morning to pick up one of its last riders. Jackson ordered the short bus driver, at gunpoint, to head north. While it is not confirmed, many officials believe that Jackson was attempting to escape to the Canadian border. However, the short bus was quickly tailed by many Washington State Troopers, and Jackson died in the gunfight that followed. Because of this ordeal, the nation became aware of the specific use for the more compact buses, and "riding the short bus" quickly became an American cultural icon.