FIRST TAKE
Celebrating Milestones Without Complacency
WRITTEN BY RYAN GRAY |
RYAN@STNONLINE.COM A
s I prepared to leave for Reno, Nevada last month, I discovered in my files the pro- gram from the first School Transportation News Western Region Conference & Trade
Show, now known as the STN EXPO, that took place July 24-27, 1994. Lo and behold, many of the issues of those days continue to be hot conversation starters in the industry. It was the latest reminder to me that, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Tat first STN conference featured workshops on the changing direction of special needs transportation training, setting up a preventive maintenance program, improving driver performance, and dealing with the media during a crisis. Tere are many similarities between that program and the one we recently completed in Reno. Certainly, issues the industry now faces that we could
barely fathom back then—and that were missing from the 1994 program—are the rise in technology and alter- native fuels. Back then, electric school buses seemed a thing of the distant future, which turned out to be only as far off as the STN EXPO’s recent 25th birthday. In fact, we’ve already seen over 150 electric school
buses from Te Lion Electric Company deployed across North America over the past several years. Starting this fall, the true race begins, as Blue Bird rolls out its Vision and All American models, GreenPower Motor Company delivers new models to California school districts, and both IC Bus and Tomas Built Buses ramp up for production that is expected to start by 2020. Tose of you who attended the first EXPO a quarter of a century ago may also remember attending a general session, moderated by STN founder Bill Paul, that discussed “Te School Bus of the Future.” Bill Gates once said that society overestimates the changes made in the next two years and underestimates the changes made over the next 10. On one hand, I’ll venture to say that the industry
grossly underestimated. Few could imagine Wi-Fi on school buses, driver tablets or surveillance video being anything more than Super 8 film, which was considered innovative at the time. Te widespread use of cellular data was unheard of, as well as downright expensive. However, predictions about GPS, real-time bus tracking
10 School Transportation News • AUGUST 2018
and computerized routing hit the mark. As you will read on page 20, the innovations kept coming at the STN EXPO Trade Show held on July 17. But there are also other, more pressing issues today demanding our attention that constituted mere blips, if those, on the industry’s radar 25 years ago. School shootings are nothing new, as the first recorded U.S. incidents date as far back as the 1850s. What has changed besides the 24/7 and sensational media coverage, is the kill count of school shootings, the types of weapons used, and an increased focus on student behavior and mental health. While the first STN EXPO didn’t offer any sessions on school bus security, we dedicated an entire general session last month to the active-shooter topic. Attendees heard from law enforcement officers, security consultants and student transporters about the training that is needed, not only for school bus drivers, but the students in their care. At recent EXPOs, we’ve also provided training from a S.W.A.T team, as well as the Transportation Security Administration and several school bus security consultants. Tere may never be solutions to all of the challenges facing student transporters, but this year’s milestone STN EXPO demonstrated how far this industry has come. It also served as a not so subtle reminder of the work that remains ahead of us to keep the yellow school bus safety record at the top of the charts. Tis fact keeps us continually evolving, and seeking new and improved ways to deliver the articles you want to read and the conference education you need. As a new school year begins, it’s important to celebrate all that is right with the industry and what local operations achieve, while reminding ourselves that we can all do better and reach higher. In 25 years from now, it’s my hope we’ll look back at this year’s STN EXPO with won- der at how much things have changed for the better.
Ryan Gray, Editor-in-Chief
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