When approaching a railroad crossing on a bus, the driver must:

Federal regulations require buses (with passengers aboard, generally) to stop at every railroad crossing within 50 feet of and no closer than 15 feet to the nearest rail. The driver must look and listen, opening the driver's window if practical, and only proceed when sure no train is approaching from either direction. The vehicle must not shift gears while crossing the tracks. Limited exceptions exist for streetcar tracks, abandoned tracks, and crossings under active human-flagger direction. A bus on tracks struck by a train is a mass-casualty event; the stop-and-verify rule exists because of historical incidents where drivers misjudged a train's distance or speed.