SPECIAL REPORT Transforming Student Ridership


Technology looks to safely house accurate student data, evolve with transportation needs Written by Ruth Ashmore | ruth@stnonline.com


The Tyler Drive tablet by Tyler Technologies paired with RFID cards is an example of an increasing number of tools available to provide accurate data on student ridership.


H


undreds of thousands of students are on new routes to and from school this month. While some school districts may still be tracking these numbers manually, many


transportation departments are implementing new tech- nology to take the guesswork out of student ridership. Luisa Brown is wearing two hats at Zillah School


District in Washington, that of an accounts payable su- pervisor and transportation manager. When she started in the latter role in March 2020, and without a long back- ground in student transportation, she leaned heavily on technology for all the assistance she could get. Brown said that despite working at a smaller school


district that transports approximately 662 students daily, she realized that tracking routing via spreadsheets was not an ideal solution. That’s when she first started using the Tyler Technologies routing software, implemented in December 2020. The student ridership verification


24 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2025


technology via RFID student cards was added in 2023. A phased approach to implementing new technology was necessary from a budgetary standpoint, she noted, which also was essential for ensuring the technology is utilized correctly and benefitting the student transporta- tion staff. Tim Ammon, a consultant in the student transporta-


tion industry since 2001, said the “Holy Grail” of this kind of technology is the amount of intervention required. Ammon explained that in his experience as a con-


sultant and working in the business management of school bus technology (he recently served as VP and GM of passenger services for Zonar Systems and remains a strategic advisor), he sees two main uses of student ridership verification. “The first is, in the event that something goes wrong,


we can track back to where the kid got on and off the bus and at least have a starting point. So, emergency


PHOTO COURTESY TYLER TECHNOLOGIES


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78