Student and school-bus tracking apps continue to receive attention from parents, who are sharing their experiences through social media and generating demand for technology providers. “Parents are seeing our Here Comes the Bus app, and they are asking districts for


it. Te app eliminates calls to the school, helps with communication, and keeps parents in the know that kids are okay,” said Tomas Polan, senior vice president of technology at Synovia Solutions. Since its launch, Here Comes the Bus has been adopted by over 125 school


districts and is used by over 140,000 parents and students in the U.S. Trough GPS, the app translates data through cus- tomizable maps that are compatible with tablets, smartphones and computers. Push notifications let parents and students know when the bus is close, so they can come to the curb at the right moment when the bus arrives. Zonar said it will continue to expand its bus-tracking app, MyBusVue, through existing and additional routing partner integration. Te company plans to launch additional driver time management and rider verification apps in the near future. “We anticipate that Continental AG,


which recently took a majority stake in Zonar, will allow us to bring more products and services into our markets as a vertical partner,” Mest said. Demonstrating the many app options


available to school bus customers, Tyler also has its My Stop app, and then there’s SafeStop, just to name a couple.


D t


on’eav cl l eiat cont o He’ m e r


cla conol0:er r t ecogi HA. ctna,e’ b p dgean 6 y s0ern HA st


ersit t 11 Bg om i e VC I f wveeenr i


bsVCye nd ur utnday sm.i y sli t .


me r t educat gues. st sh r nedeaer


ol an


a adVCyesopclt vhle f ea IS crOeifid loaisibio s


te. Gbl dt t. It ovu wyeeh ueert coeo shorcol u HA sts F o o oo


ovin htg stso oolu f meh sm t seiayeicso mrh 4 y s run’biosh w’r t tsdhic f


i syem t sch bsesoror tn ro tn0er E ulit


z ld i com era cll ie a


ed s n mci veh


a. OM qay .


FUTURE OF CONNECTED BUS Te day will soon come when school buses act more like an Internet of Tings (IoT) device that automatically runs on a 24/7 cycle of connectivity. Navistar envi- sioned “a day in the life of a connected bus” and showcased it to attendees at the last NAPT Annual Summit in Kansas City last November. “Today, we’re in a state of preventative technologies. In the future, it will be more predictive,” Reed said. In a portion of a day, for example, a connected school bus with predictive appli- cations could start remotely at 10 p.m. and automatically send a system check to the maintenance manager, who could see that an issue needs to be addressed in the morn- ing. Scheduling apps would automatically switch buses for the driver of that route and make the flawed bus available when a technician is available. “As we move forward, data analytics will


show us the effectiveness of the bus. We’ll know things right away. Technology can take headaches away and make it easier for all stakeholders,” Reed said. ●


us . gsombert nc. / 2390l r icombus | B ackhaw R |ockfd, 1L1 800. 6849 kd. R or I 609 | 499. 36 School Transportation News • FEBRUARY 2017 CELEBRATING25YEARS


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44