today and certainly in the future. “GPS is there for safety, especially for rural routes to keep track
of a bus if radio contact is lost. It also monitors questionable driv- ing habits and saves fuel with idle time management,” said Dave Mell, manager of transportation at School District 73 in Kamloops, British Columbia. Wi-Fi technology has also paid off by providing wireless In-
ternet access to anyone with a computer or laptop, and many school districts across the nation have embraced it. A rural Ar- kansas school district ran a trial in 2008 in one of its buses with laptops and iPods that utilize wireless Internet. Recently, a school in Vail, Ariz., also used Wi-Fi to allow stu-
District in Castle Rock, Colo. , for example, provides its services to ac- commodate 2,400 field trips for church groups and private schools annually, generating around $200,000 for the district each year. “Tere was one district in Arizona that had cathode ray televi-
sions mounted in buses. Some in northern Arizona have two and a half hour routes and provide movies and lessons for students. I have also heard of similar WiFi projects in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia,” added McLerran. Te group also saw the benefit of mutual transportation agree-
ments. Te Orange (Calif.) Unified School District raised $90,000 by transporting students who attend other districts in Orange County for home-to-school transportation and field trips. Tis
“One of the concrete recom- mendations we made was to
use GPS in the future to show where the bus was. This was when GPS was first being re- leased by the military. In fact a lot of people didn’t even know what GPS was.”
— Randy McLerran (right, with Mike Brown), Retired Oklahoma State Director
dents to work on school assignments, perform research and engage in educational social networking while they endure the long bus ride home. School districts in Florida, Missouri and Washington, D.C., have also run pilot projects. West Virginia was considering doing the same. “Wi-Fi in school buses should start with a pilot project to de-
termine if there are any issues that might need to be looked at before deploying the program, such as equity of access to the technology and connectivity,” said Charlie Hood, Florida’s state director of student transportation. “Affordability, safety and en- suring appropriate content would also be important factors to consider while assessing the benefits.”
OFFERING TRANSPORTATION TO PRIVATE GROUPS As predicted, the task force foresaw a future of providing ad-
ditional revenue for school districts by making better use of their bus fleet between runs. Te benefits for drivers have included logging more hours while school district budgets have received much needed shots in the arm. Te task force also found that providing services for private groups within their communities is one way many school districts generate revenue. Te transportation department for Douglas County School
42 School Transportation News Magazine August 2012
mutual transportation agreement was drafted among other school districts in the county instead of individual agreements that required school board approval. Another technological gain has been realized with cam-
era surveillance systems, not only in the bus but outside, and how it integrates with GPS. As the threat of motorists running through school bus stops is increasing, so is the installation of weather-resistant, high-resolution stop arm cameras that record in real-time. Te cameras activate while loading and unloading students. Meanwhile, internal cameras allow the driver to hit a record button when incidents occur and without question gives a full account of what exactly happened. Te timing may have not been right 20 years ago when McLer-
ran and Brown first got together in a garage to discuss how to improve pupil transportation. But the ideas that resulted from the task force they created were way ahead of their time. Te members dug deep, asked tough questions and found ways to improve the school district transportation model and bring in- novation into the industry. What they proposed has begun to be implemented, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. McLerran said the task force project was “the finest hour of
my career.” n
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