W
hen school bus seat backs were raised as a safety measure, it solved one prob-
lem but created another for Josh Rice, the director of transportation and fleet services in the New Caney Independent School District north of Houston. Traditional school bus camera
surveillance technology and their configurations were rendered inade- quate because the higher seat backs created “blind spots,” where some students—especially smaller, shorter ones—were out of the driver’s view. Rice addressed the issue by upgrading his camera system to a digital system and the creative positioning of six high-definition cameras. One camera covers the driver and the bus entrance, a bulk- head camera is over the driver’s head facing the rear; a third camera in the rear of the bus faces forward and a
fourth dashboard camera faces the road ahead of the bus. Te fifth and sixth cameras are staggered on both sides of the aisle facing in opposite directions. Problem solved and with a sharper image. “We find that this eliminates all the blind spots we were experienc- ing,” Rice said. “When you’re deal- ing with student safety and student discipline, you always want to get the best view possible. Fifteen years ago, we had one camera in the front of the bus. Fortunately, those days are behind us.” Rice said he’s not stopping there with camera technology, and the next bus order will come with an Internet Protocol (IP)-ready system. “We’ve had HD systems for sever-
al years,” he said. “With IP cameras you’re getting near television qual- ity images. IP cameras have better resolution so you have the ability to zoom in on people and objects
An example of a five-channel system channel (four cameras and one audio recorder) and the tools student transporters have at their disposal for managing, reviewing and archiving data.
without losing any of the quality.” New Caney ISD is not alone in its pursuit of newer and better technology when it comes to camera surveillance systems on their buses. School bus operators appear to be trending toward upgrading their camera surveillance systems from the legacy digital systems to the more sophisticated, high-definition digital camera systems and IP systems. Rice and his counterparts nationwide cited increased student safety, affordability, convenience and staying ahead of the technology curve to avoid using equipment doomed to eventual obsolescence as reasons to establish a replacement cycle and stay with it. Te nearby Humble Independent School District has taken things a step further. Humble ISD Fleet Manager Ariel Rodriguez said the buses there feature HD cameras with Wi-Fi capability, giving the district the ability to download video with-
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