Transportation Supervisor Elizabeth Gilleo. “We final- ly were able to get the program accepted, and are now waiting for the okay to start collecting fines for illegal passes.”
Another area seeing increased attention is routing. It’s
the focus of products such as the Routefinder solu- tion from Transfinder, which uses AI to update routing automatically based on factors such as weather, traffic conditions and driver inputs. Company founder and CEO Antonio Civitella ex- plained that the key to AI-informed routing is using historical information in predicting the future and making informed decisions. This might include, say, historical traffic info revealing that a bad turn has led to an excessive number of accidents. Or it might show another route where illegal passing has been problem- atic. The system’s algorithms take into account other local knowledge, such as which roads are most likely to get icy during the winter months and thus should be avoided. “Instead of someone deciding to say, ‘Let’s stay the
heck away from those roads.’ This lets the system do that,” Civitella said.
30 School Transportation News • MARCH 2024
That doesn’t mean, he emphasized, that the system
will totally replace human decision-making. But it does automate some tasks while freeing people up to address others. Civitella added that the ability to use appropriate
information to support preventative measures also brings value. For example, if the data shows that certain drivers tend to brake harder than desired, that might be addressed through training, with the end goal being less wear-and-tear on buses. AI also shows promise in a variety of other areas. With
predictive maintenance, data on factors such as mileage, engine performance and previous maintenance can help staff stay on top of each vehicle’s status and poten- tially prevent on-the-road breakdowns. Onboard video systems can be enhanced with AI-enabled monitoring and reporting features, and driver assistance systems of- fer real-time monitoring of driver performance. And for buses negotiating busy roads, traffic management efforts can be integrated with existing systems to help manage traffic around schools and other locations. Looking ahead, changes in the overall educational landscape will eventually affect transportation opera-
PHOTO COURTESY OF BUS PATROL.
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