ASBC and NHTSA Launches Redesigned
SchoolBusFacts.com to Reach Parents A 20-mile, round-trip school bus commute saves about $420 annually for each
student who rides the bus. Tat equals about $10.9 billion nationwide — just two facts featured on the redesigned website launched by the American School Bus Council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Te rejuvenated
SchoolBusFacts.com website allows the student transpor-
tation community to promote the benefits of the American yellow school bus while driving traffic to the new site. Its new slogan, “My Choice, Teir Ride...” is prominently displayed on the home page. NHTSA partnered with ASBC with this national outreach campaign and initially
launched the website last November following NHTSA Administrator David Strickland’s appearance at the NAPT Summit and NASDPTS annual conference in Cincinnati. Donnie Fowler, ASBC member and former president of NSTA, said the school
bus industry has known for years that yellow buses are the safest way to get and from school. “(But) because we’re seeing school bus service cuts all over the country, now is the time to go out and tell those who may not
already know that the school bus is the most effective and efficient way to transport our most precious resource, our children,” he said.
Student Transportation Leaders Conference Focuses on Technology, Efficiencies A couple hundred student transporters mid-March descended
on Las Vegas to attend Education Logistics’ seventh annual School Transportation Leaders Conference, or STLC, to discuss how the latest in routing software and GPS hardware can intro- duce further efficiencies into operations. Edulog started the event as part of the company’s national and
regional conferences to draw superintendents, administrators and business managers. “We decided to bring these administrators in, give them the op-
portunity to have a venue that is organized, and they get to choose the topics, where they can discuss transportation, technology and efficiency,” said Glen Stelnik, executive director of Edulog. A theme of this year’s conference was benchmarks, those key
performance indicators that enable districts to compare their op- erations with others. Last year, Edulog published a report on KPI and benchmarks last year, which Allan J. Jones, the state director for Washington, said he was able to utilize to help develop the efficiency rating currently being used there by school districts. Attendees learned about how these KPIs improve everything
from routing and scheduling to tracking employee time and electronic payroll software. Derek Graham, the state director for North Carolina, said school districts are doing a disservice to themselves and taxpayers if they are not developing and tracking these KPIs from year to year. Tose at STLC also heard from Francisco Du’Prey, director of
transportation at Chicago Public Schools, where the district is undertaking a multi-million dollar project to overhaul its school bus routing and GPS in search of greater accountability of its contractors for improved customer service. “Te parent says, ‘I want my child in school within that one
hour that you promised us.’ We know the physics is you can’t make a yellow bus cross the city of Chicago and drive two hours to the school. and get them there within one hour,” said Du’Prey during a presentation. “Tese are common problems. Just be- cause Chicago is a big system doesn’t mean these problems are unique to the city of Chicago.” “Parents are going to expect us to be able to track the individu-
al students from the time they leave home, certified that they get dropped off at school and then where they get dropped off in the afternoon,” said Fred Carr, chief operating officer for Metro Nash- ville Public Schools in Tennessee. “We should be able to keep up of all our students, everywhere we take them.” Another key benefit is the networking. “(STLC) has allowed me to network with some of the top
professionals from across the county in student transportation. It’s also allowed me to focus more on student safety and on be- coming a much more efficient school system,” said John Lyles, director of transportation for Atlanta Public Schools.
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