Bus Lengths and Seat Numbers

[xJP]

I'm new-ish to all this school bus stuff, but sometimes I get confused about lengths and passenger numbers. Sometimes they are referring to children, and sometimes they are referring to adults (I think). So a 48 passenger bus could almost be the same length as a 72 passenger bus, just depends on who's sitting in it...
Could someone post a list of bus lengths with how many passengers they each carry?

[bansil]

welcome

you have 4 more posts to go before approval isn't needed

As for lengths, it's more a window thing than actually numbers since kids got more, ugh....more....mass....hell kids are fat nowadays so window count is more accurate

here is one

[bansil]

11 window about 64 pass

15 windows is 40 foot flat nose BB (lorna)

14 window (was 84 pass)

8 windows was 48 passenger

13 window was 78 passenger flat nose (Les Lampman)

see they are all over the place on capacity

basically look at every ones and see what theres is; mine is about 35 foot(guessing) 12 windows behind driver

[JakeC]

Mine is a 13 window conventional, 72 pass, and 38' from bumper to bumper. Interestingly, it was sold to me as a 66 pass, but I don't think they could do math, it has 12 rows of seating. I can measure the length behind the driver's seat tonight.

[Malkieri]

I have 8 windows (behind driver) total length 28'. Back of driver seat to back wall is a hair under 20'. Mine is funny because it is a "Special Needs" (read handicap for those of us over 30 ) so it was listed as 10 passenger with 3 wheelchair spots. My seats are narrow to make the aisle down the middle wider for wheelchairs. For some reason they put the wheelchairs spots in FRONT of the seats but the lift is in the rear... seems like a really inefficient set-up to me...

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by JakeC

Mine is a 13 window conventional, 72 pass, and 38' from bumper to bumper. Interestingly, it was sold to me as a 66 pass, but I don't think they could do math, it has 12 rows of seating. I can measure the length behind the driver's seat tonight.

Mine is a 72 pass 12 window, 12 rows of seating, rear engine flat nose bus. I'm 34' from bumper to bumper. Say "We love consistency"

[Westward]

I have a 92 Ward Senator, Flat nose, front engine, 14 Windows, 38' from bumper to bumper, 32'9" from the drivers seat to the back of the bus. The interior height is 73 inches, 7'6" wide. In another thread somewhere on here the rule of thumb was giving approximately 25.5 inches length per window, 2.5 inches for the brace between windows for a skoolie. I found that this gives you a decent estimate of the length, but it does vary with manufacturer. (Thomas leaves a blank panel behind the last rear window, Bluebird takes the window all the way to the back corner nearly) The longest school bus I ever found was a 15 window. Now as far as passenger rating, school buses are usually rated by the number of kids per seat, which is assumed to be 3. So a 10 window bus, has 20 seats, and passenger rating of 60. (adults it would be 40). I walked a lot of busses and recorded the year, make, model, and the interior demensions of them, i'll have to post the info, if I can find where I put it.

[gusbus]

This something I've been watching . . .and measuring as I've looked at buses. Primarily because I will partition off the drivers area from the rest of the bus so I can insulate the entire living space for up north winter living. Consistent living in my Class B has taught me that moisture gets into everything on the dash while living in it in the winter. Another reason to have a bus; easy to partition behind the seat.

[KatBus]

I'm trying to keep the overall length of the bus I buy under 30 feet. What number of windows should I be looking at? 8? 9? Also the inside height matters as we're a tall family. If I find a bus I like but the ceiling is low, how feasible is it to recess the floor walk way area if I keep it down the middle of the bus?

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by KatBus

I'm trying to keep the overall length of the bus I buy under 30 feet. What number of windows should I be looking at? 8? 9? Also the inside height matters as we're a tall family. If I find a bus I like but the ceiling is low, how feasible is it to recess the floor walk way area if I keep it down the middle of the bus?

you can buy busses that are high tops. I think my bus has 6'6" height in the center of the bus.. goes down a little from there as you get closer to the windows..

it is a Carpenter body... it seems some of the handicap busses have taller ceilings but are often short busses.. (mine is a 7 window.. I havent measured it length yet)..

most people raise the roof rather than try to build a trench.. there are lots of things like driveshaft and what not that go down the center of a bus..

-Christopher

[Robin97396]

Yeah, not feasible. There are cross members between the frame rails that you can't cut out as well as other stuff that would be difficult to impossible to move. It's been tried.
The thought here is that its better to spend the time to find the right bus so you don't have to do lots of modifications that take lots of time and money. You have to learn to recognize indications of a high roof height, unless you want to do a roof raise.

[superdave]

my bus is a re 32' 11 window with the high ceiling. when i took the ply off the floor i had 79". i added 1" foam and 3/4 sub floor and a 1/2 " thermal break to the ribs. i now have 76 3/4 head room, ill loose less than a 1/2 " for my ceiling and flooring. im just 6' tall so i got plenty of head room.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Yeah, not feasible. There are cross members between the frame rails that you can't cut out as well as other stuff that would be difficult to impossible to move. It's been tried.
The thought here is that its better to spend the time to find the right bus so you don't have to do lots of modifications that take lots of time and money. You have to learn to recognize indications of a high roof height, unless you want to do a roof raise.

as more people do roof raises there is more and more information out there too on how to do it and ow to get better at it, for a person who is doing a complete build from a totally gutted bus, a roof raise is now feasible.. look at the guy recently that raised a roof in a day or two..

seems the flat front busses do best for roof raises, I havent seen anyone raise a dognose yet..(im sure the yare out there though)

EDIT: Wait i just now read a thread of a dognose roof raise.. ha!

having never had an RV, I also dont know what the ceiling heights of standard commercially built RV's are. 7 feet? ive been in some that seemed as short if not shorter than the ceiling in my Bus..

-Christopher

[Azuleslight]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

you can buy busses that are high tops. I think my bus has 6'6" height in the center of the bus.. goes down a little from there as you get closer to the windows..

it is a Carpenter body... it seems some of the handicap busses have taller ceilings but are often short busses.. (mine is a 7 window.. I havent measured it length yet)..

most people raise the roof rather than try to build a trench.. there are lots of things like driveshaft and what not that go down the center of a bus..

-Christopher

I have a handicap bus as well, it is 21.5 feet from the back of the drivers seat to the back of bus. I believe mine is 9 windows total. And about 26 feet total length. If you see a bus online that you like google the buses interior dimensions to get a rough idea though windows are about 2.2 feet per.

[REDD]

Originally Posted by bansil

11 window about 64 pass

15 windows is 40 foot flat nose BB (lorna)

14 window (was 84 pass)

8 windows was 48 passenger

13 window was 78 passenger flat nose (Les Lampman)

see they are all over the place on capacity

basically look at every ones and see what theres is; mine is about 35 foot(guessing) 12 windows behind driver

Mines a 40 foot Dog Nose Freightliner/Thomas....

11 window... 10 @ 25.5" wide and 1 @ 35.5" wide outside measurements

12 Rows of seats, 72 pass

30 feet from the back of the drivers seat

6 foot tall to the center of the roof

7.5 wide feet inside

[nwarner2010]

I have a 40ft flat nose Thomas. 14 Windows (not sure window length). Bus was advertised as 84 passenger but the data plate inside says 90 as the capacity. Inside is 7'6" wide and 6'6" tall in the center.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[CoconutExpressPartyB]

Originally Posted by Malkieri

I have 8 windows (behind driver) total length 28'. Back of driver seat to back wall is a hair under 20'. Mine is funny because it is a "Special Needs" (read handicap for those of us over 30 ) so it was listed as 10 passenger with 3 wheelchair spots. My seats are narrow to make the aisle down the middle wider for wheelchairs. For some reason they put the wheelchairs spots in FRONT of the seats but the lift is in the rear... seems like a really inefficient set-up to me...

Do you have any more measurements of your bus? My family recently bought a bus and I'm working on some things for it, remotely, and am hoping to get the interior measurements. Our bus is 8 windows on the driver's side, 7 + the wheelchair lift on the other. Can you help?

[patrickiron]

Originally Posted by bansil

welcome

you have 4 more posts to go before approval isn't needed

As for lengths, it's more a window thing than actually numbers since kids got more, ugh....more....mass....hell kids are fat nowadays so window count is more accurate

here is one

I can't read the dimensions? I am trying to design my reno in CAD but can't find a reliable source for blueprint.

[WanderingFool]

Hello All,

I'm brand new here.... been stalking for a while. ( ; I, too, am seeking the inner dimensions of a short bus so that I can plan my layout. It appears that most buses are around 7.5' wide but I'd like to nail down the interior length (behind the driver's seat). Height is not important since I'm only 5'5". Does it vary greatly between short buses? Are there many different ones out there? I'll keep searching the forum but thought I'd throw my hat in this thread.

I'll go post an introduction as well.

Cheers and Thank You~!

[jjhwick119]

mines an international/thomas dog nosed 11 window, but has an extra row behind the last window so its a 71 passenger (small seat!) 28 foot 8 inch behind the driver, 7 foot 6 inch wide. 38 foot bumper to bumper, but its got a big ole 1 foot bumper