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Local bus company owners support government-proposed safety requirements - depending on how much time they're given to comply.

The Obama administration said this week that it will propose long-sought safety requirements for long-distance buses, including seatbelts and stronger roof standards.

A motorcoach safety plan released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calls for developing performance requirements for bus roofs before the end of this year and issuing a rule by early next year on the installation of seatbelts.

"As much as everyone here is very much in favor of safe improvements to the buses, we can't sell the whole fleet and change it," said Aerial Fullington Weisman, president and CEO of Fullington Trailways in Clearfield. "There will be a transition time. We are getting three new buses for our Trailways Line, and they will all have three-point seatbelts ... in early 2010."

The proposal falls in line with a December 2007 proposal from Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th District, for a "full scale study of applied research and safety" of the motorcoaches, Shuster spokesman Jeff Urbanchuk said.

Bill Scully, co-owner of Freedom Excursions in Altoona, said he favors Shuster's approach of analyzing the safety features from a scientific standpoint.

"As far as the actual retrofit [of seatbelts] and as far as the structural set up of seats - that would be the challenge," Scully said. "Depending on how they expect us to handle the cost, it could be challenging for the smaller operators."

Dick Dowdell, safety consultant for Export-based Myers Coachlines, which has a satellite office in Duncansville, said a lot of passengers object to the idea of seatbelts on the motorcoaches.

"They like move to around in the coaches," Dowdell said. "Many wouldn't use them. [We could enforce it], but people are people, and they'll take them off as soon as we're out of sight. ... Plus, we are concerned with children [using the belts to hit each other]. We do transport school students. ... School children can be notoriously violent against each other, and we don't want that to happen."

Other elements of the Obama administration's plan include:

n Requiring devices that record when a bus is turned on or off, in an effort to prevent drivers from operating a bus longer than is allowed. Weisman said her company requires drivers to keep logs and reviews them regularly.

n Prohibiting drivers from texting, and limiting their use of cell phones while behind the wheel. Weisman, Scully and Dowdell said their respective companies already have such policies in place.

n Cracking down on bus operators who try to evade safety rules, so-called chameleon carriers who shut down operations under one name and reopen under another.