W
ith new technology touching nearly every aspect of our lives, today’s digital-savvy parents expect a certain level of transparency from their children’s school bus providers.
Although budget issues and the ongoing strain of driver shortages continue to obstruct transportation departments nationwide, most districts are still eager to implement the latest technology. Districts want to retain drivers, provide accurate ridership data and give parents the peace of mind they demand via parent-facing apps. School bus contractor First Student is rising to the
challenge of equipping 42,000 buses across North Amer- ica with tablets, by teaming up with Tyler Technologies. “Tyler and First Student have been working together
for over 20 years,” said Rich Licht, strategic account ex- ecutive for Tyler Technologies. “We were one of the only companies with our own software and tablet back then. First Student has always been a technology leader, so it was logical to work together.” Dean Suhre, senior vice president at First Student, said
North America’s largest school bus contractor needed a solution that checked many boxes. The two companies
came together in 2015, which set the wheels in motion to develop a customized relationship around Tyler Drive. “We needed a solution for our operational, reporting
and data analytic needs for a fleet of our size,” Suhre shared. “The back office needed to integrate updated routes from our central location operating platform, display them on our mapping platform and feed infor- mation back into our systems.” Ted Thien, vice president and general manager of
Tyler’s Student Transportation Group, said back office integration is key. “You can’t make tablets work without data flowing back and forth in real time,” he added. “It’s staggering how much data that is, and the level of inte- gration required to make it function properly, but Tyler and First Student are committed to making it a success.” Licht described the challenges of developing tablet
software for First Student. “Rolling out new technology is an ongoing process,” he explained. “We’ve deployed the tablet in seven different sites for testing feedback.” While First Student did not have data to share from those
pilot projects, a location manager for one of the company contracts, Michelle Taber, said she already likes the elim-
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46 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2019
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