Todd Duncan, assistant transportation director for the Wash-
oe County Schools in Reno, Nev., says the projected savings has resulted in a minor technology surge in his district. “Everything is data driven,” says Duncan. “Whenever we can
prove that the upfront cost will provide longer life, it is definitely an advantage.” Over the past several months, Washoe has installed Zonar GPS
and electronic inspection systems on every bus in its fleet. Tat system includes engine diagnostics. “Now, when a check-engine light comes on, the guys in my
shop will know it,” adds Duncan. “Tey will be able to query it and be prepared when the bus returns or contact the driver on the radio and give them direction or ask for more information on bus’ performance. Te shop supervisor can run a report on a date range and see what buses have problems and look for pat- terns. Tis will help us maintain the fleet better.” New technology advances are being made regularly. Zonar recently
announced another leap forward with its patent-pending fuel-based GPS tracking technology through its telematics platform. Company reps say this will allow school bus customers to identify the most fuel- efficient bus routes based on numbers of stops and turns. Ralph Knight, transportation director for the Napa Valley
Unified School District in northern California, said the new tech- nology is a boon for education and makes it possible for school
districts to control their fates. “Te technology integrated into school buses is a real plus,” said
he says. “It gives us the ability to see where the bellyache is and then fix the bellyache. For such a long time we were just parts changers.” He recommends bus operators weigh the initial cost of some
school buses against the long-term benefits, otherwise known as life cycling. For example, Napa Valley has paid $150,000 for a hy- brid school bus when regular diesel buses have cost $90,000. But by amortizing the cost over 15 years and figuring in the payback of increase fuel mileage, he says the district can actually make money on the investment. Technology makes this possible. “You’ve got to come out of the box and look at the life expec-
tancy of the bus,” Knight adds. “Tere is sticker shock, but you’ve got to play outside the box these days and see where that vehicle is going to take you in 15 years. You’re going to get subsidies and grants to pay the difference, so now you’re banking money.” Banking the money is exactly what Duncan says Washoe
County has been able to do after it implemented an electronic routing system two years ago to increase efficiency and reduce employee overtime. “Tis is something we’ve wanted to do for years,” he concludes.
“Tat made it possible to plead our case to go to the next step. We are allocating the savings from overtime to purchase the new GPS technology.” ■
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200 Swathmore avenue • high Point, nC 27263 42 School Transportation News Magazine April 2012
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