Richmond County’s Elsheikh accesses bus video footage remotely.
analysis could even have applications in rider account- ability, he ventured. “If enough footage is recorded, you’ll be able to track
behavior that leads to a fight and maybe that could trig- ger some sort of alert for the driver,” Bryer explained.
Successful Upgrades Upgrading DVRs is an ongoing project at Richmond
County School System in Augusta, Georgia. To date, about 60 percent of the 217-bus fleet has been equipped with cloud-enabled models. The results represent a marked improvement from the past, noted Paul Abbott, senior director of transportation. Recalling the days of “big clunky drives” that had to be pulled and returned to the shop for viewing video—at one time hauled in a laundry basket—he said the new cloud-enabled units from Gatekeeper eliminate previous inefficiencies. “When the new units were first put in place, our guys
were awestruck,” he said. “It’s been a game changer.” Abbott first gained exposure to cloud-enabled systems
38 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2023
while at Georgia’s Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools during the 2021-2022 school year. Based on that experience, he began the process of implementing similar tech at Richmond. That seemed especially logical given that his district already has a fuel system, routing software and maintenance software that are cloud- based. He remains upbeat about the ability to store and obtain video remotely. “You don’t have to worry about problems like a server crashing,” he said. “Even if my building burned down today, I could keep operating, and I wouldn’t have lost any video.” At Carroll County Public Schools in Maryland, 307 bus-
es are equipped with a hybrid system from Bus Patrol. The stop-arm enforcement system is proving effective in several ways. “The ability to retrieve video from the office rather than having to go to a bus lot, board the bus, and pull the video is an advantage,” said Anita Stubenrauch, supervisor of operational performance for the district’s transportation service department. “Not having to main-
PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHMOND COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM.
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