The most urgent order of business in the national scene is to complete the development of a series of new performance tests for school bus bodies and chassis to establish a benchmark for safe construction that can be verified by independent testing agencies. Such performance tests should incorporate the new Federal Joint Strength Efficiency proposals and the performance criteria under development by the National SBMI Task Force Committee on school bus standards. Uniform adoption of a national school bus standard by the 50 States would serve the interest of the total pupil transportation effort, result in faster delivery and cost savings, and enhance the safety image of school transportation in the minds of the American public. Short- and long-range tips for buying school bus chassis today are included. (Author/MLF)