The Orange Kangaroo and automatic tire chains
HELLO, JOHNNIE >> Recently I was stopped behind a St. Vrain School bus while at a red light. There was a sticker on the back of the bus saying “Orange Kangaroo.” I’d not heard of this in relation to the schools.
Do you know what it references?
I was also intrigued by the “automatic tire chains.” I would appreciate a brief explanation, if possible and if you have time.
Thank you. — An Inquiring Mind
HELLO, INQUIRING MIND >> Imagine yourself to be a 6- or 7-yearold child just learning how to navigate the school district’s transportation system — knowing when to catch the bus; knowing where to catch the bus; and, very importantly, catching the right bus.
At the end of a long, hard day learning reading, writing, ’rithmetic and how to manage a glue stick, it might be difficult to remember that your bus is No. 189. However, if your bus is the Orange Kangaroo, well, then that might not be so hard to remember at all. And it would engage your imagination. I mean, if I were a kid it sure would.
“The ‘Orange Kangaroo’ sticker you noticed on the back of the bus is part of our Department of Transportation Services’ color and animal identification system, designed to help our younger riders easily recognize their assigned buses,” Lance Yoxsimer, executive director of Transportation for St. Vrain Valley Schools, said in an email reply when I forwarded your query to the district.
“Traditionally, bus identification relied on numbers displayed on the buses,” Yoxsimer said. “Over five years ago, St. Vrain Valley Schools introduced a color and animal identification system as an additional safety measure to help the district’s youngest riders locate their buses more easily. Each bus has a unique combination of a color and an animal.
“Each student who rides the bus is assigned an animal and a color, displayed as a magnet on their bus, and they also receive a matching sticker on their bus
pass. This system assists students in identifying their assigned bus and serves as an added safety measure for bus drivers, who verify that the student’s bus pass matches the color and animal of the bus they are boarding.”
Inquiring Mind, in addition to that magnetic decal you see on the back of the bus, there’s a matching decal next to the door.
The district uses 24 animals in its system: bumblebee, butterfly, cheetah, crocodile, dinosaur, dolphin, duck, elk, fish, flamingo, frog, giraffe, hamster, iguana, kangaroo, ladybug, lobster, manta ray, octopus, panda, peacock, penguin, spider and zebra. There are five colors per animal: red, orange, yellow, green and blue.
This system is more than enough to individually label the 98 buses currently in operation in the Saint Vrain Valley School District.
Now, about those “automatic tire chains,” I also have been curious about them. Your question prompted me to learn more.
Having put chains on tires before, I had pondered how such a process could be automated. It’s not. These automatic chains don’t wrap around the tires, each rotates on a different axis, under the tire.
Here’s my simple explanation of the system.
Tucked under the bus, just inside each interior rear tire, is an arm on which there’s a wheel. Attached around the perimeter of each wheel are segments of chain.
When the driver flips a switch, the arms lower until the edge of each wheel comes into contact with the interior of each inside tire’s sidewall. This causes the wheel to begin spinning in sync with the tire as the chain segments, due to centrifugal force, extend from the wheel. Each segment of chain swings toward the contact point between the tire and the pavement. The tire rolls over the chain segment, then that segment whips back around until it engages with the road and tire again.
Inquiring Mind, if that wasn’t clear, watch this video on Youtube: https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aemt7d7o-ts.
Thanks for the interesting question.