News


Defining the Internet of Things


“The ‘Internet of Things’ is the ability for an unlimited number of devices (things) to collect data, exchange data and com- municate without the need of human intervention in order to achieve a desired or perceived outcome, such as increased safety or improvement in efficiency. In the case of school bus vehicle connectivity it refers to the ability to connect a variety of bus location, driving parameters, bus signals and sensors, and video and audio information and either record it for his- torical purposes or transmit and make it available real time.”


–William Durno, senior product manager at Seon


“Joining things that can be tracked and their actions monitored. The ‘Internet of Things’ gets more complex when we are talking about vehicles, people and things that physically move outside of a defined space. It is inevitable that things will be monitored and tracked, and school busing will be no exception.” –Robert Scott, vice president of 247 Security Inc.


“‘Internet of Things,’” or machine-to-ma- chine communications, is the latest term for what we have been doing for years; combining technology and mobility to create connected intelligence solutions. I expect industry adoption of IoT solutions on school buses to continue to the point where all future buses will be connected to improve safety, efficiency, serviceability and fleet management.” –Bill Brinton, co-founder and vice president of pupil transportation at Zonar


of connected technology or still operate with legacy systems dating back at least a decade. One merely had a cell phone. “Wireless management of video is making the biggest impact. Signif- icant staff time is saved and video is used more regularly, making the investment more productive. Man- agement of data is key to efficiency,” said Robert Scott, vice president of video surveillance and fleet man- agement company 247Security Inc., which offers Touchdown Wireless Management System to the school bus market.


Te list of camera providers and software companies that are expand- ing their solutions into fleet man- agement continue to grow, as do the school bus manufacturers that are partnering with them to provide IoT for increased safety and visibility on the bus and of vehicle performance. As an extension, school districts are seeing their options increase for tapping into and testing this connectivity.


PILOT PROGRAMS WITH EYES When there’s a watchful eye and data on accountability, road behav- ior tends to improve. A combination of GPS, camera and video recorders offer a classroom extension to the school bus and improve student be- havior during the ride. Technology secures situations outside of the bus, too. School districts that have had enough of vehicles passing stopped school buses are involved in a few pilot projects to collect data on violators and install cameras on stop arms to deter incidents. In response to a rear-end collision involving a stopped school bus


that killed two siblings, the state of Michigan has been conducting a pilot program using a Driver Alert Lighting System on the back of school buses to reduce the number of unsafe pass-bys. Michigan State Police will join school transporta- tion directors in reviewing the data this year and school transportation directors to determine next steps in technology installations. Te Deer Valley School District


near Phoenix conducted a similar pilot project with equipment from tech vendors to catch pass-by viola- tors in the act. It found that roughly 99 out of 100 people who get tickets never get a second ticket. Tey learn their lesson. And the number of citations issued goes down after the cameras have been on the buses for a while. “Photo enforcement programs


work. Te goal of our programs is to modify driver behavior through the use of technology,” said James Saun- ders, president and CEO of Redflex, which provides mobile technology and applications in the field.


NEXT STEP PILOT PROGRAMS Other yellow space pilot programs will keep buses rolling toward the inevitable next chapter of mobility – the Internet of Tings and Smart Cities. Te thinking: Connected services will leverage the Internet and affordable mobile connectivity to improve student and driver safety, reduce operations costs and increase school bus operator efficiencies. “It is clear that IoT will provide a major impact for the school bus industry going forward. Based on our customers implementation and transition needs, we are well posi-


“Wireless management of video is making the biggest impact. Significant staff time is saved and video is used more regularly, making the investment more productive. Management of data is key to efficiency,”


18 School Transportation News • JANUARY 2016


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