NORTH COUNTY -- The school year is revving up with fewer yellow buses and more orange cones at many North County campuses this week.

With bus services cut to save money in four school districts, administrators have anticipated an influx of cars and pedestrians this year -- and safety issues that might come with them.

In San Marcos, the city adjusted traffic signals to allow longer passing times for pedestrians at some school crosswalks, and the California Highway Patrol has posted portable signs reminding drivers of how fast they're going, said Kathy Tanner, director of facilities and planning for the San Marcos Unified School District.

In April, the San Marcos district voted to trim about $1.2 million from its $141 million budget by eliminating the buses that served about 2,700 students each day during the last school year.

Poway Unified, Oceanside Unified and Bonsall Union school districts also voted to reduce bus service this school year as a way to reduce costs.

"We've probably put another thousand cars on the road throughout the district," said Steve Rogers, assistant director of transportation services for Poway Unified, which cut service to approximately 1,000 students.

In an attempt to keep traffic smooth this fall, the district started preparing parents for the changes during the last school year, Rogers said. With school back in session, sawhorses and temporary signs have helped keep drivers and walkers where they belong, he said.

The cutbacks implemented by Poway Unified, which only runs buses on routes that serve at least 50 paying round-trip students, made it possible to keep 4,000 students on bus lines despite high gas prices and the state's budget crisis, Rogers said.

Buses, he said, are still the safest way to get kids to and from school.

"More than half of it is the trained professional behind the wheel," Rogers said. "Also, the buses are gigantic compared to the other vehicles on the road. They have great visibility, and they're built like a Sherman tank."

All the same, inconveniencing parents has been more of a problem than safety thus far, Rogers said.

Along the same lines, sheriff's Sgt. Cliston Hensley, head of the San Marcos traffic division, said Wednesday that the city's Sheriff's Station hasn't been inundated with fender benders near campuses.

But deputies did help with traffic control at Knob Hill Elementary School this week, he said

"That's not unusual," Hensley said. "Every year we kind of have to put out fires at schools until everybody gets disciplined and gets used to how traffic should flow."

Perhaps the biggest obstacle has been road construction on Rancho Santa Fe Road, which was complicating morning and afternoon commutes even before the start of the school year, he said.

"Coupled with no busing, that just compounds it," he said. "We are afraid of road rage. We're trying to make everybody aware -- be patient. Realize you're not going to get anywhere fast for a couple of hours during the school day."

Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675 or cmensching@nctimes.com.