right around the corner, ask that driver to cover stops 14 through 18, and ask another driver to cover stops 19 through to the end,” He added. “The drivers can simply bring those stops up on the tablet.”
Rugged Jobs Made Easier Larry Hannan, transportation supervisor at Wamego
Public Schools in Kansas, moved to new tablets that were robust enough to survive the gravel roads that many of his buses navigate. “We switched to a start-up company, Transportant,” said Hannan. “Their system is simple, while some of the other routing systems are just too much effort to run. We’re small, and my administrative assistant and I have other duties to attend to.” He explained that the Transportant tablets are more
rugged and prevent loose connections. “We aren’t using all of the features yet, but during the coming school year, we are implementing Wi-Fi for the students that is tuned into the student network. Many of our impoverished fam- ilies don’t have the internet at home, so the kids will have the opportunity to get some homework done on the bus. Before Transportant, Wamego drivers used screen
shots of route sheets and hand-drawn maps. Now ,Hannon said the regular drivers usually turn the tablet screen down, but the subs love using the turn-by-turn directions. Hannon said he is also looking forward to obtaining good data from the tablets for creating routes. The event button is another feature that Hannan said he wants to use next. For instance, a driver who encoun- ters challenging student behavior can simply press the event button and Hannan receives an email alert. Then, Hannan can address the student personally, via the speakers on the bus, “Johnny, this is Mr. Hannan, and I want you to stay in your seat,” Hannon noted. Meanwhile, Tyler Technologies’ Thien said he recalled a bus driver at one district telling him that driving any route was now possible with the help of Tyler Drive. “That driver was confident and comfortable using a tablet to drive a new route,” he added. “With the driver shortage, you want to have your employees be able to drive any route. The technology allows them to do that and provide the same high-level of customer service they want to provide,” he concluded. ●
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50 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2019
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