Spaw

Depends on where you are. There are a lot of local, county, state, school district, etc regulations that technically do apply to anyone "running a bus service" - in some places. There are a lot of places where there are no rules - for some people.

It can be quite difficult to determine what is - and is not - "legal." Common sense gets us through a lot of it.

The federal rules mainly regulate minimum equipment that a vehicle must have to be labeled/sold as a school bus. Rules on how the vehicle is operated, and how others must react to it, are largely state and local. Many local jurisdictions add quite a few equipment requirements that are not federal requirements.

Several states do have regulations that can technically define any vehicle as a "school bus" for purposes of limiting how, and by whom, it can be operated - and these rules may apply to, but are commonly ignored by, most people.

In some jurisdictions, you can technically be violating the law based simply on how many persons (and their relationship with the driver) are in the vehicle. Some have different rules for "for hire" and "casual" use - but if the scout troop pays for the gas it may make it a "for hire" use - in some localities.???

Most public school buses in the US do look pretty much the same. For smaller organizations, common sense and careful driving are the important things.

John