Tag Archive | first school buses in Montgomery County
July 15, 2025  

A Ride Through Time: The History of School Buses in Montgomery County

Montgomery County MD first school buses

Shown are the chassis of the first school busses for Montgomery County purchased from Reed Brothers Dodge in 1922.

Before the yellow school buses we know today, getting to school was a very different experience—especially for rural children. In the late 1800s, student transportation began with horse-drawn wagons affectionately called “kid hacks.” These basic, uncovered wagons were far from comfortable, but they served the essential purpose of getting children to and from school, no matter how rough the ride.

A step toward improvement came in 1892 when Wayne Works introduced the first “school car,” a horse-drawn wagon outfitted with wooden bench seating and a protective roof. Still, these early models lacked any of the safety features or durability we now associate with school buses.

As automobiles gained popularity in the early 20th century, the transition to motorized school transportation began. The 1920s marked a pivotal moment when manufacturers started building school buses specifically for that purpose, mounting them on automobile chassis for greater reliability and performance.

In Montgomery County, Maryland, one local business helped usher in this new era: Reed Brothers Dodge. Established in 1915 in Rockville, Reed Brothers Dodge played a key role in modernizing student transportation by providing some of the county’s first motorized school buses. By 1922, they were delivering school buses built on Dodge car chassis—vehicles that represented a significant leap forward in safety, comfort, and efficiency for schoolchildren.

First school buses in Montgomery County, MD 1922

From The Montgomery County Sentinel, May 21, 1959

Today, school buses across Montgomery County are sophisticated, safety-focused vehicles equipped with cutting-edge technology and designed with sustainability in mind. Yet, their legacy can be traced back to the early innovations—both mechanical and community-driven—that made student transportation more reliable. Companies like Reed Brothers Dodge were instrumental in that progress, helping pave the road for the safe and efficient school bus systems we depend on today.

June 30, 2021  

Introduction of School Buses in Montgomery County

Your parents and grandparents have probably told you stories of walking miles to get to school – uphill both ways of course. Today, most kids take the school bus. In fact, if you were a grade school student the late 1950’s, a Dodge school bus might have been your ride. The first school buses used around Rockville (and in Montgomery County) were furnished by Reed Brothers Dodge.

From The Montgomery County Sentinel, May 21, 1959:

First School Buses

In the 1940s, the school bus started to become a profitable trend, so other companies began to jump on the bandwagon to create their own versions. Fifty years prior, Wayne Works and Blue Bird were the main producers, but around this time mainstream companies like Ford and Dodge used their vast resources to further innovation.

Following the end of WWII, the number of children exploded in America, and that necessitated another redesign for buses. This time they didn’t get wider or safer; this time they got a lot longer. Adding all that length increased overall capacity to around 100 students. It was around this time that the infamous yellow paint job became a national standard as well, so this is the beginning of the school buses we know today.