INDIANAPOLIS – When you hear the acronym ROI to return on investment, savings are often discussed. But a STN EXPO Indianapolis session condemned that misconception, suggesting that technology can provide savings on efficiency, driver retention, and student safety.
For example, Zack McKinney, transportation director for Hamilton Southeast Schools in Indianapolis, said in an October 3 session that he was looking at technology ROI from a student safety and driver perspective. He says that happy workers make them come to work every day. In addition, student safety reduces parental phone calls.
Nathan Oliver, transportation director for the Monroe County Community School Corporation in Bloomington, Indiana, agrees. He said the district will publish road descriptions for alternative drivers by the end of this school year. He mentioned that the process is difficult and safe. But now, Monroe County has a tablet system in turn, which has helped more drivers on board.
On the technology disaster wheel, McKinney and Oliver chose topics to discuss and how he played a role in his district Roi.
Stop-arm execution
McCain said unfortunately, Indiana has experienced a number of recent transit incidents that have resulted in student deaths. The most recent, In 2018, three brothers and sisters were killed and killed while trying to board a school bus in Rochester, Indiana.
McKinney mentioned that Hamilton Southeast Schools was experimenting with stop-camera camera technology, but suggested that participants do research because of the options available. “Look at what you can do,” he said. McKinney added that if the company spends money on the system instead of supporting the bill in return for penalties, it wants to make sure local prosecutors are willing to use the information from the camera.
At first, law enforcement officials said they refused to enter into an agreement with the video company, but after talking to officials and prosecutors, they agreed to punish and sue the owner of the vehicle that was passing the school bus. As McKinney added cameras to his fleet, neighboring District of Noblesville schools returned all 120 buses with parking cameras.
“Do you do it again after receiving a fine? I have no idea. ”
Michael Laroko, director of the Indiana Department of Education’s School Transportation Office, commented that the districts that are monitoring illegal traffic violations are seeing a 50 percent reduction in illegal traffic. However, he added that it is a small sample size nationwide.
Oliver, meanwhile, added that his message to the district was about the front-end cameras on the front page of a local newspaper. The district has previously seen 36 parking violations a week on a two-and-a-half-mile road. But after installing the brakes, the drivers said they did not see the same number of violations as before.
Student Riding
At the height of COVID-19, Oliver Monroe County drivers said they had to write on the school bus every day. In addition, each child should take note of where he or she is placed for communication purposes. This past summer, the district acknowledged the loss of 18 drivers, saying it was too much to handle.
The district has since switched to tablets and RFID cards, which tell students where their seats are when they board the school bus. Health services staff also have access to the information and may be able to pull that information off for drivers for contact search purposes.
Oliver mentioned that he is now recruiting those 18 drivers. As a result of the transition to this new system, the district has seen ROI in terms of driver efficiency and finances, he said. It mentions the employee’s hours to monitor employee contact, and if the seating schedule is not fully up-to-date, employees must go through video hours.
“What we save in human time will pay for that system at the end of the year,” he said.
Finally, Oliver County uses the same RFID cards for the bus in the lunchroom, encouraging students to keep their cards. In the cards, he mentioned that the first problem with transportation was that children wanted to be explored by their friends. But he said that with the tablets, the driver could see the student looking at the photos to see who the student was and who they were on the right bus.
If the school bus driver forgets or loses students, he or she will be able to register manually. The technology is also being used for athletic trips, which can help in the event of an accident, as Oliver can send student information directly to the destination, usually to law enforcement.
Two attendees from the Larami County School District in Wyoming, Oliver, from school or their parents’ transportation / supervision / supervision They asked if the follow-up had continued. Transportation Superintendent Michael Larson said he used RFID cards for transportation to Lami County 12 years ago, but is still not 100% used. He added that schools and then parents have the option to choose the nature of the technology.
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Oliver noted that before the technology was introduced, there was a lot of community access. The big pressure with his parents was discussing how often the students were “lost” or unknown, and parents were calling where the child was and what they were doing. Now, you can provide all that data. He still urged the audience to do their own research and find that system that works for them.
Selective entry transport
Another feature of RFID cards, turnaround and student tracking is the design of routes based on the bus’s choice of driver, which improves transportation efficiency.
Session Moderator Derek Graham, retired North Carolina State Director of Public Guidance, cited national districts that pay parents to drive students to school, contrary to school bus safety records.
“Now, if you can bring your students to school, not through school buses, do so,” he said, adding that many districts are posting forms on their websites believing that students will not receive transportation unless they travel. Ask him out well.
Graham added that during the epidemic, some districts were adding buses to 24 students. Allowing parents to opt in allows transportation staff to arrange routes and transportation for those students.
Oliver noted that the district has allowed open registration on the school bus. Last year, if students were brothers and sisters, they would sit in one chair. The reduction has forced the construction of an additional 48 miles, covering an additional 2,500 miles. Increase fuel costs for those additional lanes and loss of drivers, and the stress is growing. But it could have been worse. He said that if the district expected each student to drive the bus, they would have to add 67 more lanes.