Integrating Emergency Response
T
Tyler Technologies’ Adam Jensen (green shirt) demonstrates the Drive tablet to STN EXPO attendees during a Ride & Drive event in July. A half-dozen schools are piloting the technology, with Washington state already publishing a spec this month that alllows districts to mount it in-vehicle for drivers.
representatives demonstrated for School Transportation News and attendees at the STN EXPO Trade Show on July 26 and the following day during the inaugural Ride & Drive event. School bus drivers can log on to the tablet with individual usernames and passwords and start and stop their time clocks, though Hobbs said Dallas County Schools isn’t using that function because it requires drivers to begin their work days at the service center rather than on the bus. But he said ensuring the time of routes and that drivers don’t deviate from their plans—and if they have to logging exactly where they went—are wel- comed efficiencies. By logging in manually, drivers only see the routes and students they are meant to have, and the tablet allows administrators to update routes and automatically notify the drivers. Tis also ensures drivers are accountable for the start and end of their own shifts as well as what they are doing—or not—on their routes. “One of the biggest things is be-
ing able to make sure to account for drivers’ time on route, better able to monitor if they are taking extra-long routes to “ride the clock,” accurate miles for state reports. With the tablet we’ll eventually be able to do a lot better job at accountability for the students,” Hobbs explained. “We truly don’t have a lot of customer service complaints with parents, but now it’ll just be quicker and easier to track kids.” Drive integrates with Versatrans
RP, Tyler’s student transportation routing software, or the next-gener- ation Traversa to provide turn-by- turn directions and mapping custom to that driver’s bus. Administrators can also make instant route modi- fications and send them directly to the tablet in the Cloud via Wi-Fi or cellular. Company representatives said cellular data packages as well as support costs are included in the flat, annual, per-bus fee. It also allows transportation
departments to authorize drivers to automatically skip stops when students are absent or find alternate
44 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2016 CELEBRATING25YEARS
reker debuted a new partnership at the STN EXPO that promises school bus drivers the ability to connect directly with first responders through the use of a tablet. The company’s new partnership with
Blue Point Alert Solutions allows for the optional feature of streamlining calls for help during an emergency situation on the school bus. Treker users will also be able to receive turn-by-turn navigation and/or to check students in and off the bus. The integrated product will have a blue button at the top of the tablet that a driver can press in the event of an emergency. From there, they can select the type of emer- gency from a drop-down menu configured by the school or district. Districts can choose how they would like
the information to be communicated. For example, the information can go directly to dispatch and emergency services simul- taneously, or initially to dispatch, who can then contact emergency services. “There’s complete customization as far
as how the district wants that emergency response flow to happen,” said Kymberly Wolfson, Treker’s director of business de- velopment “It’s completely flexible. No two districts have to use it in the same way.” The fact that the Treker product in- cludes GPS would also allow dispatch and emergency response personnel to immedi- ately pinpoint the location of a bus during an emergency. “If they don’t want the children on the
bus to be alarmed, they don’t have to worry about relaying their location back to dispatch because as soon as they hit that button, their GPS location as well as what the emergency is automatically sent through the proper channel,” she said. -Jeanette Reveles
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