STN: What about in the area of school bus safety and security?
Carnahan: We always have had to deal with the safety and security of the school bus, and everybody would pay a lot of attention to what needed to be done to maintain a safe environment in and around the bus that protect students. Since 9/11, that has changed drastically.
Now, we’re dealing with more and more issues that Homeland Security is involved with and different concerns about people
doing all kinds of crazy things that could involve a school bus, as well as people doing things in the community that have an impact on schools and school buses. The need to pay attention to schools, school bus safety and crisis management is a more prevalent problem right now that the industry needs to pay attention to.
STN: What was technology like for school buses during that time? What were the latest trends?
Carnahan: The kind of technology that people were looking at was kind of a progres- sion from simple to complex. Video systems that people were putting into school buses at the time were, in many cases, VCRs housed in a box. Then they migrated to sending the information from a camera to a VCR, and now it’s digital. Two-way communication was a big deal
to have a functional communication system between the bus and the office. Today, it keeps moving on with different refinements. Back in 1997 or 1999, nobody had the ability to track their buses and know what was going on in real-time with the AVL technology or GPS, let alone know which students were really on the bus, as well as systems that record the loading and unloading of students. All that is on the table today. Now there’s so much technology on the school bus that it’s mind-boggling com- pared to what it was back in the late 1990s. Today, we’re seeing a steady progression of a lot of different kinds of technologies. I think it’s all good; we need to be careful about doing things with technology that maybe you can do it, but maybe it’s not a good idea. The good thing about technology today is that if you choose the right technology and use it the right way, it can provide a safer operation at a reduced cost. Anything you can do to help control costs and still run a quality operation, then it’s critical. I think it’s getting close to the point where if you’re not using technology, you’re probably not operating at a level of efficiency, as you should have.
STN: How have you seen the state director role changed throughout the years?
Carnahan: It’s frustrating for me to observe the lack of support that position is getting within each state. I can’t say it’s the same in every state, but I know that the organization- al support for the state director position has suffered in recent years. It’s making it harder and harder for state directors to accomplish what they should be able to do. I don’t know if it’s a temporary situation, but it is obvious that being a state director these days is a lot more challenging than when I was a state director.
STN: So, how do you see this part of your life and this part of your career in student trans- portation?
Carnahan: I’m still able to contribute to the
betterment of this industry by contributing to it in whatever way I can. I’ve always worked hard to get things accomplished that would improve pupil transportation, and that makes me happy. You don’t do this by yourself. It’s very satisfying being in a position that I can still be a part of making things happen.
STN: Thank you. l 18 THE SHOW REPORTER • OCT 18-24, 2013
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