New York State War Council War Transportation Committee School Bus Route Review and Certificate Renewal Files

Organized into 2 subseries: Subseries 1, School Bus Route Review Files, 1943, 7 cubic feet; and Subseries 2, School Bus Route Certificate Renewal Files, 1943-1945, 9 cubic feet.

Both subseries are alphabetical by county, then arranged by school district.

The War Transportation Committee was responsible for promoting and ensuring the efficient use of transportation resources such as rubber and fuel. As part of this duty, the United States Office of Defense Transportation directed the committee to review school bus routes to ensure that buses were employed according to regulations designed to minimize school bus usage while still providing adequate transportation for school children. School districts were required to submit to the War Transportation Committee detailed plans of their school bus routes each year.

This series contains correspondence, memoranda, maps, and forms documenting the War Transportation Committee's supervision and review of school bus routes.

Subseries 1, School Bus Route Review Files: This subseries contains documents from the first review of school bus routes conducted by the War Transportation Committee. A typical school district's file includes: 1) a form with the county, local school unit, and date at the top, which lists: name of school served or destination; bus seating capacity; number of elementary and secondary school students served (and the number less than two miles from school); the time en route per trip; daily round trip mileage with and without pupils; and number of days each bus operates per quarter; 2)another form, also with the county, local school unit, and date at the top, entitled "Data on Mileage, Gallons of Gasoline, and Ownership" which lists mileage by quarters of 1943 for: routes and trips; inspection and refueling;, and total mileage, The form also lists the total gallons of gas consumed each quarter, and the war certificate number issued for each bus's operation. Both forms were issued by the Office of Defense Transportation; 3) road maps, some hand drawn, outlining proposed bus routes; 4) memoranda from a committee staff member detailing revisions required in the school district's plans; 5) a questionnaire from the War Transportation Committee used to ensure that efficient practices were employed and that other War Council programs such as the Office of War Training's Bus Driver Training Program were utilized; 6) requests from school districts for exemptions from the mandated limits stating the circumstances requiring the exemption and the committee's response; and 7) routine transmittal correspondence between the committee and the school district (usually the superintendent).

Subseries 2, School Bus Route Certificate Renewal Files: This subseries contains materials identical to those found in Subseries 1, although these materials were used to renew permission for school bus routes which the War Transportation Committee already had approved. One form containing all the information from the two Office of Defense Transportation forms found in Subseries 1 is found in this subseries. This one form, entitled "Applications For Continuation of Certificates of War Necessity to Operate School Buses," was issued by the Office of Defense Transportation and contains additional information including the school superintendent's signature and address and a bus code for each route which was keyed to the map each school district was required to provide with its renewal request.

This series was originally accessioned as boxes 317-322, 417-419, and 421-425 of old collection #77, accession -71.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.