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Heard Around Town


LOCAL STUDENT TRANSPORTERS WEIGH IN ON HOW THIS WEEK’S INDUSTRY TRAINING CAN BENEFIT THEIR DEPARTMENTS AND SAFETY OPERATIONS


South-Western City School District, located about 10 miles southwest of downtown Columbus, Teresa Ritchie, transportation director for Reyn- oldsburg City Schools 12 miles to the east, and George Sontag, transporta- tion supervisor for Worthington Schools 15 miles to the north. Look for these industry professionals this week at conference events and share with them if you are facing similar challenges.


W


School Transportation News: What are the top three challenges facing your school transportation operations today? Cox:Driver recruitment, sufficient (driver) substitute pool and the addition of specialized routes outside regular routes. Ritchie: Driver shortage, language barriers and student/parent management. Sontag: Driver shortage and absenteeism, special routing requests, and parents that feel their children are entitled and refuse to take responsibility for their unsafe behavior.


STN: What do you hope to learn this week? Cox: New and improved, more efficient technology tools. Ritchie: I wouldn’t miss it. I’m the Central Region director for OAPT and I know all the amazing things I’ve learned at our conference. So, I’m excited that NAPT is being held in Columbus this year. I think it’s a great oppor- tunity for all our local transportation people to get to network with other people from other states and see what is working for them. I will be attend- ing a few professional development classes that I’m really excited about. I’m just getting started on being a Certified Director of Transportation. Sontag:Network with peers and learn about new innovative products and ideas that can help us serve our customers more efficiently and effectively.


STN:How are you dealing with driver shortages? Ritchie: I think most districts in Ohio are facing a driver shortage. We have our daily routes covered, but when drivers call off or we have extra trips, these are the times we struggle the most due to lack of sub drivers. We keep post- ing ads to hire new drivers, I hold classes to help people who are struggling to pass the CDL written test, and I try to follow up closely with anyone that applies. But most importantly I try to be good and fair to my current drivers and let them how much we appreciate all the work that they do for us. Sontag: Job fares, social media, paid training. I suggest better health bene- fits for part-time employees; however, the costs are hard for decision makers to make the financial investment. Most drivers work much more than part time, when you look at the trips and extra work they perform. However, their benefit costs are comparable to food service employees and crossing guards. Drivers are expected to be professionals and yet they are often treated as laborers.


STN:What are your plans for using alternative fuel in any of your school buses? Cox: Not planning to at this time.


18 THE SHOW REPORTER • NOV 4-7, 2017


e reached out to transportation supervisors in the Columbus area to learn about the challenges their operations are currently facing as well as their forecast for the industry’s future.


Respondents include Tim Cox, director of transportation for Tim Cox Theresa Ritchie George Sontag


Ritchie:Not using any at this time. We are researching. Sontag:Not yet. I would like to use CNG but I don’t feel the time is right yet. Te infrastructure preparation is very costly and I don’t currently see the value of switching compared to the costs. I really think we have bigger issues that should be addressed first.


STN:Do you use lap/shoulder seat belts in any of your buses? Why or why not? Cox:Only when required by an IEP on special needs buses. Currently, the State of Ohio does not require lap/shoulder seat belts (on larger buses, only Type A). Ritchie: No, and I’m not a supporter of seat belts on school buses. I’m a firm believer in, “If it’s not broke, don’t try to fix it.” Ohio has one of the best safety records for school bus transportation and student safety, and I can’t find a benefit to adding them. Sontag: Not for students. I feel it will be very difficult to make sure students wear them. I do realize that students might be safer, but I don’t feel we have a problem with safety that would benefit the use compared to the cost.


STN: What technologies do you use aboard your buses? Cox: GPS, Fuel Master, diagnostics system, surveillance camera system, two-way radio. Ritchie: We currently have Zonar GPS and DVIR systems on all of our buses, and we are in the progress of adding Seon camera systems. Sontag: We currently use Zonar for tracking on our entire fleet and Seon cameras in about half of the fleet. I have installed forward-facing cameras on many of the buses, which allows us to monitor the drivers’ habits as well as student behavior. It makes investigating complaints more certain. However, it is very time consuming to review the data. Parents expect proof when discipline is a problem and they don’t believe us when we don’t have it. We plan to add more cameras!


STN: What kinds of driver assistance systems (DAS) do you think would be helpful for school bus drivers? Cox: Blind Spot Information System, Electronic Stability Controls, Colli- sion Prevention (integrated video and radar), and Intellipark. Ritchie: Talking Navigation would be awesome. I would also like to see some technology around pedestrian detection to keep our students safer. Sontag:We are experimenting with tablets for drivers next year. I like the idea of student tracking; however, I believe it will only be successful if it is parent driven. We as a department cannot manage this.


STN: Costs aside, what kinds of DAS would you like on your district’s school buses? Cox: A turn-by-turn navigation system and a student tracking system to allow us to quickly see where and when riders enter and exit the bus. Sontag: Back-up cameras and more cameras to view the area around the bus. Tablets for drivers, student tracking, more and higher resolution cam- eras inside the bus, and Wi-Fi on the buses for student use.


STN: Tank you. 


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