communications manager for Tyler Technologies. Te Tyler Drive tablet integrates with Tyler’s Versatrans or Traversa transportation management software. Saratoga Springs provided feedback and product suggestions to Tyler, which helped move forward the Tyler Drive tablet beta version. Te district has been a Tyler Technologies client for 28 years, and also uses Versatrans Routing & Planning, Tyler Telematic GPS, Versatrans Onscreen and Versatrans e-Link. Te Tyler Drive tablet provides directions for bus
Joel Mooneyham at Houston’s Cypress Fairbanks ISD, uses Transfinder, AngelTrax, Safety Vision and REI surveillance systems.
drivers to each stop on their routes, as assigned by the software, and generates audio and visual instructions. When the bus is in motion, the tablet screen can be set to black, to reduce driver distractions. At each stop, the tablet displays the names and ID photos of students who are scheduled to board or disembark there. Students then scan a personalized RFID card as they approach the driver, which registers that they have gotten on or off, and where. “Tese features improve efficiency, reinforce student safety, and make it easier to on-board new drivers,” noted McGrath. Cheryl Dalton, transportation director, added, “I also use the term ‘peace of mind,’ which I think tablets can bring to parents, drivers and transportation, in general.” She said the tablets are important “from a safety standpoint—that the parents know that their child is OK.” Mel Monica, a district routing specialist, said
the drivers like that the tablets provide directions. “Sometimes drivers will get turned around in a housing development and kind of lose their way, and the GPS in the Tyler Drive tablet helps them avoid that kind of situation,” she added. Te drivers are also excited about having the tablet display the names and pictures of each student rider, Monica observed. “A lot of times, these little guys get on and they can tell you their first name, but not their last name or where they live. It’s nice to put a picture with a face and a name.” Jeff Wainwright, the district’s assistant transportation
director, recalled that it proved difficult at first to get dispatchers to use the GPS and Onscreen, an AVL tool that compares planned and actual routes. “Now they’re like, ‘We need it, we need it to do our jobs,’” he added. “Technology has evolved to where it’s a necessity to run an efficient transportation operation.” Dalton concluded that, “Drivers have a tough enough job as it is, between the accountability of kids, making sure they’ve got the right kids, making sure they’re getting off at the right stops.” Tat’s especially true for substitute drivers, who find it “hard to remember directions in general.” In the future, she said she wants more seamless
38 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2018
solutions that make employees’ jobs easier. “Hopefully, the Tyler Drive tablet in the long run will make it … easier to recruit drivers, and we can retain them, because we’re making their jobs easier,” she added. “We have to do whatever we can to make it easier for our employees to do their job, because it’s such a tough job to begin with—a responsible job. Rewarding—but a responsibility.”
HUDSON FALLS CSD IN HUDSON FALLS, NEW YORK
Hudson Falls CSD, which is situated not far
from Saratoga Springs, already has a considerable amount of top-level equipment, despite the bus fleet being half the size of its New York neighbor, said Transportation Supervisor Tom Murphy. Hudson Falls school buses feature Wi-Fi access, multiple inside and outside cameras, a digital two-way radio system, and routing, trip, vehicle maintenance and driver software.
“Tese items facilitate our requirements for safety, student management, efficiency and mandated regulations,” he said. He said he was not able to pinpoint exact cost savings, since increased safety and efficiency were the motiving factors for the upgrades. Still, cost always plays a role. “No purchase is made without a cost/benefit analysis,” he added. “Any dollar savings were con- sidered to be a side benefit to the ease and efficiency generated by any/all upgrades to our operating system in total.” Te district’s most pressing need, and the first
to be resolved, was the routing software. Murphy said routing was previously conducted by hand. “Te change was immediate, and continues to evolve as the needs of our students and district change,” he added. Te next planned technology acquisitions, Murphy noted, are trip scheduling and vehicle maintenance software. New equipment evaluations and purchase
processes can be a major headache, especially since they don’t directly address emergency needs. However, Murphy said upgrades will naturally occur over time. “As with buses that are automatic, with air ride seats and electric entrance doors, etc., it is a slow, deliberate process,” he explained. “I don’t recall any resistance to any item that improved their professional lives, save a bump when interior sur- veillance cameras were introduced. But that passed without much drama, and is now accepted as a tool to help” school bus drivers. His staff does its best, given the budget. “We
believe we make educated choices. We research all options and do our homework before we commit to any major expenditure.” He stressed that “all
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