DISTRICT DISMISSES OLD-TIMERS; NEW FLEET TO REPLACE AGED SCHOOL BUSES.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

If they were horses, they would have been put out to pasture long ago. If they were human, they would have been collecting Social Security by now.

The 10 oldest school buses in the Hart district fleet have been retired, and shiny new coaches have taken their place. The odometers tell the story on the old buses, on the road for more than 20 years each.

Together, they have traveled more than 3.5 million miles between campuses and student neighborhoods, to and from field trips and sporting events. But machinery, like people and animals, eventually needs a rest.

The senior member of the William S. Hart Union High School District fleet is Bus No. 4, a 1960 model. The district's workhorse, however, is Bus No. 30, which has logged 447,620 miles since it began service in 1970, said Gary Smith, director of transportation for the Hart district.

State legislation passed last year set aside $35 million to help public school districts replace pre-1977 buses. Under the terms of Assembly Bill 3488, districts are reimbursed for part of their expenses in buying new buses to replace the old models being taken out of service.

The Hart district won grants to replace 16 pre-1977 buses. So far, the district has received 10 new 250-horsepower, cleaner-burning buses it ordered last year from a North Carolina manufacturer.

``The other six buses are scheduled for delivery in either late December or early January,'' Smith said. ``We've been in contact with the manufacturer, and they are on schedule.''

The school district spent a combined $816,993 to buy 16 new buses, nearly 60 percent of their overall cost. State grants covered the remaining 40 percent of the cost - or $549,468, Smith said.

The retirements and new additions considerably modernize the district's fleet of four dozen school buses. Five of the retired buses were 1970 models; two of them date to 1967, and the other three are 1960, 1969 and 1974 buses, Smith said.

The new yellow-and-black coaches carry 84 passengers each and serve each high school and junior high in the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith said.

District students are getting a little more for their money this year. Besides being transported in newer buses, the cost of their bus passes has gone down - from $100 per student each semester to $75, Smith noted.

The price reduction is an attempt to lure student passengers back onto district buses. Many had been riding Santa Clarita Transit buses in recent years because the fares were lower and the service was comparable, with routes taking them to stops near their campuses.

The old buses, meanwhile, will be auctioned off to the highest bidders - perhaps ending up in a salvage yard or maybe being put into service in another country, Smith said.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--color) The 10 oldest buses operating in the Hart school district are being retired and replaced after a combined 3.5 million miles of service.

(2--color) A warning tag marks the steering wheel of a bus set to be retired from school use.

Myung J. Chun/Daily News