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C


ost. Ease of Use. Customer Service. The three main components transportation directors shared they look for when installing new technology. In a survey sent to 112 indus-


try professionals to qualify for the STN EXPO West Transportation Director Summit in July, 28 percent of respondents said they were looking to purchase GPS for navigation and tracking or GIS for mapping within in the next 12 months. Chris Wilder, the transportation director for Prairie


Central Community Unit School District 8 in Illinois, was one of those directors. He said the most important considerations when selecting a GPS vendor are price and the software ease of use. Prairie Central operates 16 school buses daily out of a fleet of 28 school buses and four white activity buses. Wilder noted the school district is interested in using GPS to track school buses in real time, especially when a parent calls. He said having GPS would allow him to locate the bus remotely without having to call the driver on the radio and ask their location. He noted the district implemented passive GPS in its camera systems last year, but he would like to further research GPS systems before asking the school board to approve a purchase. “We have not really given the discussion a long look


yet,” he shared. “I am always exploring options to help the district improve our transportation.” Liz Ospina, the assistant director of transportation for


Mesquite Independent School District in Texas and an- other TD Summit survey respondent, said her district has already started pilot programs with the goal of purchasing a GPS system by the end of the current school year. “Specifically, we’re looking for something that’s going to help us with a number of things,” she shared, adding


that vehicle tracking is a priority. She said in addition to tracking the district’s 230 school buses and 24 SUVs used for students who qualify for transportation under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Mesquite ISD is also interested in RFID cards that verify when and where students board. She noted that her operations serve 52 campuses, transporting over 4,000 students. That makes ensuring each vehicle is equipped with the GPS system and RFID cards important, she added. “Turn-by-turn directions is an important one as well as coaching features. We want to know, are drivers pay- ing attention? Are they buckled up? Are they swerving into lanes? Are they harsh braking? Something that’s going to help us to be able to coach our drivers if they’re not in compliance,” she continued, adding that fleet data management and reporting are additional solutions. Ospina shared that Mesquite ISD is looking for a mul- tifunctional solution and to use the system and software to the fullest. For buses that transport students with special needs, she said the GPS is especially important, as at any time an emergency could occur that requires 911 to be called. “If that bus is down and [the] battery dead, there’s


no way for the driver to communicate other than a cell phone,” Ospina noted. “Knowing where they are is important, just the same as McKinney-Vento transporta- tion. Our McKinney-Vento drivers go out of our [district] borders. … it’s really imperative that we have that track- ing option on all of our vehicles.” Mesquite ISD has already performed pilots with AT&T and Samsara. Ospina added that at STN EXPO West she also spoke with Tyler Technologies, Safety Vision and Zonar during the trade show. She said the school district is also in discussions with SmartTag and plans to set


47% of operations have completed a school bus video surveillance system upgrade within in the last two years. 3% were currently in the process of updating.


34% of operations have completed a GPS system upgrade within in the last two years. 1% was currently in the process of updating.


(Out of 77 responses to a recent STN magazine reader survey.)


40 School Transportation News • OCTOBER 2024


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