T
ech applications may come and go, but one area seeing steady progress is the use of tablets in school
bus operations. From enhanced security and convenience in data management to growing interest on the part of school districts, tablets are coming into their own. The latest tablets dedicated to school transportation offer an array of features. Among the most basic applications are trip routing options that can prove es- pecially helpful to new drivers or those taking on unfamiliar routes. In addi- tion, recent innovations have expanded the possible use cases available to driv- ers and other transportation staff. Applications from other providers
are also adding new levels of efficiency. That potential is now being realized by the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE), which as School Transportation News previously re- ported in September 2020 has made the commitment to install tablets from Tyler Technologies on the state’s fleet of special needs buses. A substantial upgrade from a 50-year-old paper and pen system, the move is being made in multiple phases, with 167 buses in 25 districts already equipped, and tablets currently being installed in another 342 buses. Once installation is complete, the training portion will begin with
usage in some locations in January. “We knew that this would be a game-changer,” said Mike Bullman, SCDE director of transportation for the state department, which owns and services nearly all 5,600 school buses in operation across South Carolina. He noted that the primary reason for obtaining the tablets, which feature Traversa school bus routing and Tyler Telematics GPS, has been to increase efficiency in tracking Medicaid rid- ership. But transportation leaders are also looking forward to other benefits such as turn-by-turn navigation and possibly in the future, pre-trip inspec- tion features in some districts. Bullman shared he also hopes to expand beyond the special needs buses to include all buses state-wide. “Adding the tablets to all the buses would provide us with the last real piece of data needed to take the routing program to a much higher level of efficiency,” he added. At Shenendehowa Central Schools in
Clifton Park, New York, 20 of the dis- trict’s 214 buses are currently equipped with tablets, also from Tyler Technol- ogies. Alfred Karam, transportation director for the 9,800-student district, has been favorably impressed with performance. While veteran drivers have not been totally enthusiastic about the new tech, newer drivers tend to prefer them, Karam added.
Opposite: Carmen Wilks, an area bus supervisor for Chesterfield County School District in South Carolina, pulls up route information via a tablet installed as part of a statewide implementation that began in 2020.
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