Youngstown City school bus driver Stephen Lawrence reviews the afternoon routes on the Tyler Drive tablet with Chief of Transportation Colleen Murphy- Penk.
the wheel, it allows administrators to send messages about specific students. Rice said this option comes in handy when communicating to prohibit a suspended student from boarding the bus. He added that SMART Tag also offers a parent notification app to give parents the real-time location of the bus each morning and afternoon. Another function sets up parameters to ensure the right students get on the right bus. “Take for example, a sub driver,” he explained. “What’s more nerve racking than coming up to a bus stop with 30 students getting off and trying to watch traffic, reading the route sheet and ensuring that the correct students are getting off of the bus at the right stop? With not only RFID, but a solution that now ties your tablet to your routing software, you have the assurances that you are not only letting the student off at the right stop, but that they are boarding the right bus before you even leave the school.” SMART Tag also allows New Caney to create seating
charts and to perform a student head count each school morning, so as to satisfy state reporting requirements to receive reimbursement funding that is based on riders who live two or more miles from school. “Basically, the more efficient your routes are, the higher
your reimbursement rate is. However, Texas has not changed the way it reimburses school districts since the 1980s,” Rice said. “Most transportation departments in Texas only receive about 22 percent on average of their total budget from the state. So, obviously, we need all of the help we can get, in order to maximize what little we actually receive.”
He added the next system update this summer is expected to include two-way messaging and customized parent notifications. Zonar’s 2020 tablet provides similar communication and rider tracking solutions, with the added benefit of incorpo- rating the company’s Electronic Verified Inspection Reporting solution. Meanwhile, the new ruggedized Zonar Connect includes routing integration. Both tablets feature a camera to take and forward photos of inspection defects and logistics documents. Te set-up also includes the ability to monitor via GPS the driver’s behavior, such as speeding or hard braking. At Watkins Glen Central School District and Odessa Mon-
tourCentral School District in New York, bus drivers have been using the Zonar 2020 tablets for the past five years. Michelle Clark, director of transportation for Watkins Glen, reported that her drivers use them for daily pre- and post-trip inspections, checking for students who may still be on board at the conclusion of routes, and “driver defect reporting,” or DDRs. “Te mechanics pull daily mileages for our (New York
Department of Transportation) reporting, as well as pulling the DDRs for repair work,” she explained. “My dispatcher uses the system to locate buses that might be on day trips, as well as sending messages to buses that are on those trip,s and out of radio or phone contact.” Clark said the drivers appreciate being able to use their tablets to alert mechanics about vehicle issues. “Before, a driver would be responsible for coming in and logging a defect manually into our computer system,” she added. “Now, it
40 School Transportation News • JUNE 2018
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 |
Page 77
