Timothy Shannon admittedly dislikes paper, choosing instead to rely on computer software from GPS and routing provider Tyler Technologies for managing a more efficient transportation operation.


It didn’t take long to happen. A 6-year-old second-grader in Corinth, Mississippi was left asleep on his school bus on the first day of school. Te student was eventually found but not after he had spent time alone on the bus—asleep. He was found, eventually, hot but still alive. Te reason was the onboard technology. School startup this year was heralded by the annual chorus of media reports sounding the alarm for motorists to be careful around school buses and in school zones. Local law enforcement threatened the obligatory con- scientious enforcement of traffic laws, and community groups issued pleas to motorists to be aware of the big, yellow vehicle transporting students. And while school districts have employed their own rhetoric of safety initiatives at the start of school, a


growing number are supplementing that language with action in the form of the increased use of onboard technology to enhance student safety. It was some of this technology that in all probability saved the life of the aforementioned 6-year-old in Corinth because the student reminder system required the driver to walk to the rear of the bus to disarm the alarm that activates when the engine is shut off. In addition to the child check system, other onboard technology employed by school districts include: GPS;


routing software; surveillance cameras; stop-arm cameras; “danger zone” detection systems; vehicle telematics and engine diagnostics; RFID cards; mobile data terminals (tablets and smartphones); digital radios, Wi-Fi; and apps that enable parents to monitor the movements of their children on and off the bus as well as vehicle loca- tion. Many of these solutions are voluntary and adoption depends on a district’s ability to pay for them outright or through creative financing. Others are required by laws that carry the names of children who were killed. Te result is that the school bus is achieving a level of artificial intelligence that enables it, through a series of images, visual prompts and programming, to dictate and monitor the behavior of humans that drive it, maintain it, supervise it and ride in it. Some industry experts even speculate, with some alarm, that the time may come when school buses will be autonomous and drive themselves. Others embrace everything about technology, and they believe that developing a uniform set of regulations for their development and use is a necessary and more arduous process. It is not enough to have a child-check system, you must have one that meets at least a set of minimum


requirements that guarantee some semblance of safety. Te student in Corinth was found because the stu- dent-check reminder system operated with an alarm that reminded the driver of his responsibility. School districts seek uniform standards also for economic reasons. It is more cost-effective when safety equipment is standard no matter what company manufactured the bus. It reduces the time it takes to train bus drivers who come from other districts. At the national level, the National Congress on School Transportation produces a manual every five years that is considered the national minimum standard for school buses, their equipment and operation. David Koskelowski, the steering committee chair for the 2020 Congress, said that, to his knowledge, no new technologies have been submitted for consideration in 2020. But there is still time. “National standards are vital to the industry because that’s where everyone starts their specifications and their procedures,” Koskelowski said. “When a bus comes certi-


40 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2017


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