D
river assistance technol- ogy is a buzzword of late for student transporters, especially amid broader
conversations on autonomous vehi- cles. For school buses, the general feed- back from both OEMs and operators is that adults will always need to be on board to supervise students. Certainly, automated controls factor into the dis- cussion of reducing driver distraction as well as improving student behavior, especially since the on-board distrac- tions that bus drivers most frequently mention are the students themselves. But this fall’s industry conferences in Columbus, Ohio will also arm student transporters with takeaways to enhance the intangibles of driving the school bus. NAPT on Nov. 5 will feature a keynote address by Stacey Bess, a re- nowned and award-winning educator for her work with homeless students at the “School with No Name” shelter in Salt Lake City. Bess kept a diary of her students’ stories so she would never forget how far these “hopeless” children had come. She said that later reviewing these stories uncovered life lessons, and she eventually published them in the book “Nobody Don’t Love Nobody.” Bess’ work was chronicled in the
2011 Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “Beyond the Blackboard” and resulted in her receiving the National Jeffer- son Award for excellence in public service along with First Lady Barbara Bush, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackman and Ambassador Walter Annenberg. “My focus is on how we can impact most vulnerable children,” she told STN, adding that she hopes to inspire school bus drivers to drop the “just” before their job titles. “If you see a child starving every morning, have a granola bar and a smile. Te smallest gestures for kids go such a long way. In talks with other student trans-
porters, Bess said she’s been impressed by the passion of school bus drivers despite a general lack of support in their local communities.
“Te people who work with
children are not given as many pats on the back as they deserve,” Bess continued. “Tey are tired, unappre- ciated and feeling like they are not doing important work. But they are.” Appreciation for the complicated jobs school bus drivers perform, and an attempt to simplify operations, is one reason to embrace autono- mous vehicles, proponents say. With all the discussions of late on how passenger technology is moving to commercial vehicles, and eventu- ally school buses, it’s apropos that NAPT is featuring a session focused on assisted driver technology a day earlier on Nov. 4. It’s an especially timely offering considering the U.S. Department of Transportation’s release last month of the latest guidance to states, legislators, vehicle manufactures and technology pro- viders for implementing automated driving systems. Tomas Built Buses is partnering with NAPT to demonstrate the evo- lution of technology for the indus- try. Two years ago, Tomas’ parent company Daimler Trucks North America introduced its Inspiration project, the first road-approved,
Award-winning educator Stacey Bess plans to empower school bus drivers with her NAPT Summit keynote address on Nov. 10 in Columbus, Ohio.
www.stnonline.com 63
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 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
