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reset the ridership capacity policy to account for a maximum of 15 students per bus, following social distancing guidelines, and optimized it’s existing routes to that new policy. “When [the software] sees there are more than 15 passengers on a bus, it breaks off the route and creates a new one,” Falk shared. “Even though those routes may not be perfect, it’s a good starting point to begin tweaking them,” she said. This then allows her to work out what-if scenarios, such as capacity re-
strictions or filter routes by students to transport last name A-M on one day and N-Z on another day. Falk’s team also uses Transfinder GPS Connect with Stopfinder to determine expected time of arrival and Zonar GPS for vehicle location. Still, she advises that districts exercise some degree of caution when selecting new technology. “I would never promote purchasing any technology purely by its outward
appearance,” she explained. “As we know, the simplest-looking solutions sometimes don’t offer the robust capabilities the bigger players offer. That’s not to say the big players have a complicated user interface. I think some software companies take advantage of technology-inept or technolo- gy-apprehensive directors and office personnel, showing off a seemingly flashy product that appears to be user-friendly, presenting them with the buzzwords like live tracking, dynamic routing, so on and so forth.” The “meat and bones” of it all, Falk explained, is that some software
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doesn’t offer the necessary functionality to address more complex routing scenarios, like transporting to alternative sites or managing exceptions, shuttles and transfers. “Even in our school district, transporting under 800 students, we have
some complex routing scenarios,” she added. “The main concern of the somewhat misleading software companies is simple home to school transportation, and that’s the only functionality they offer. Unfortunately, someone who has never worked with technology may be caught off guard with these revelations, only after committing to purchase said product.” Meanwhile, Freeport School District 145 about 30 miles west of Rockford,
Illinois, is also well-versed with school bus technology. Dallas Pieper, the district’s director of transportation, used a 2009 grant from Zonar to imple- ment the Z Pass student tracking system. “The biggest advantage of Z Pass is knowing what students are on bus and when, for contact tracing,” she told School Transportation News over the summer. The missing component has been an app, but she added that she is
working with Zonar to add the new MyView, which allows parents and caregivers to see their child’s bus location and receive updates on route and arrival changes. The app allows parents to build custom zones and time their morning and afternoon schedules according to bus arrival. Email or text alerts let the parents know when the bus is rolling up. Multiple zones can also be added for different drop-off locations, such as daycare, sports or field trips (in locations where COVID-19 allows it this fall), or a caregiver’s residence. Parents can associate these zones to a particular bus. “Zonar MyView increases the school bus information flow to parents and
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decreases unnecessary dispatcher interactions,” said Kevin Mest, senior vice president of passenger services at Zonar. “Parents and caregivers have a tough job, so we’re pleased to help address some of the challenges caused by lack of information. Enabling them to check on the school bus whenev- er they want means one less thing to worry about.” ●
52 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2020
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