live and breathe SmartTag. Transfinder pushes right into SmartTag twice a day to update routing information. No human is needed, as long as that child’s name and address is spelled correctly, they are routed. Every school has a tag printer for student IDs.” Prospective drivers are interviewed by routing staff
that show them the routing system during the interview process and explain how each student is scanned on and off via RFID cards, and all of the information the system keeps track of. The tablet also walks them through their pre-trips and defects, so there is no clipboard with paper defect sheets. “Let’s say one clearance light is out,” Cox explained. “They note that on the tablet and that information is immediately assigned to a mechanic that will have those parts out and be ready when that bus comes in.” Technology peace of mind isn’t the only thing that
attracts new and experienced drivers alike to the Cleve- land district. “All of our buses have air conditioning, and we don’t send one out if the AC doesn’t work,” Cox said. “It’s Texas and it’s hot. Our drivers are full-time, meaning eight hours a day, not six, is what they work. They can live off what they earn. Since this district is growing and continuing to grow, our transportation facility is only two years old, but we’re planning another one to accom- modate all of the new housing being built.” Cox also takes care of his drivers with a friendly culture
that stresses generosity, timeliness, understanding and wisdom. “I recently cracked 600 eggs at a breakfast we had for our staff,” Cox added. “Celebrating your people, rewarding them with our ‘Road to Success’ accolades, and advertising how nice a place it is to work is just as important as technology is. I don’t have a recruiting problem.” In Bakersfield, California, Assistant Director of Trans-
portation Julee Arnall also talks to potential drivers about Routefinder, and the ease of adjusting routes and print- ing turn-by-turn directions—not quite as technological as other districts have it, but it beats the old way. “We’re able to show a driver a picture of their route the way we like it. But that route is easy to change if the driver has ideas to make it more efficient or better meet the needs of the students,” Arnell said. “This capability is invaluable. Sometimes we make the changes, sometimes the driver sees what we see, and most times we find middle ground where both routers and drivers are happy.” Substitute drivers at Bakersfield City School District are
given printed route sheets that can be updated daily, not handwritten or months old. “Up-to-date changes only take seconds to make with the routing system,” Arnell pointed out. “I think that our cameras with GPS are also an incredibly great tool. When a driver is having a prob-
44 School Transportation News • APRIL 2022
Katrina Falk, the director of transportation for Shelby Eastern Schools in Indiana, is among the industry leaders who are happy to see more proliferation of turn-by-turn directions and student tracking, conveniences that weren’t available to her when she first began driving school buses.
lem, we can see real time what is happening and what we need to do to help.” Arnell added that over the past year the district has been running an active campaign, which includes radio, television, and computer ads, to help find potential drivers and lure them to BCSD. “We speak to potential drivers in the classroom process, during interest phone calls, and in job interviews about the perks of BCSD and the efforts we are making to move forward with tech- nological answers to many of the traditional bus driver complaints,” she said. Jeremy Bricks, the transportation director for the
Sodus Central School in New York state, said he doesn’t understand why districts don’t embrace technology. “I have Tyler Drive [tablets] with GPS and turn by turn directions,” he added. “If a driver is out on a route, in the dark, and the snow is blowing off Lake Ontario, that driver still knows where to stop, there is a photo of the student, and the system keeps track of attendance
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