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TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY

HELPING TO IMPROVE

STUDENT SAFETY & SECURITY

Building on past technology projects implemented Here Comes The Bus! (HCTB) - HCTB is a parent-facing
fleetwide in the school buses, there are several completed application that allows parents and students to receive
and in-progress projects that continue to utilize technology notifications when their assigned bus is approaching a
for the safety and security of our students using District stop for pickup or dropoff, along with notifications when
Transportation. the bus has arrived at the school. Beyond leading to
fewer missed buses, less time waiting at the bus stop,
Electronic Bus Inspections - This initiative was or reducing anticipation of when the bus will arrive,
completed to improve the pre- and post-trip inspection the application will also provide an improved overall
processes required by every driver on every trip. It transportation experience. HCTB is currently being piloted
enhances the paper-based process by allowing the driver by the seven schools that comprise the Transportation
to enter the bus inspection details on a mobile driver Advisory Committee. The system is being monitored, with
tablet (MDT) mounted in each bus. While not completely data collected and analyzed in order to allow a broader
replacing the paper-based process, it adds electronic rollout across the District. The plan is to have HCTB
storage, retrieval and reporting from the electronic available to all schools during the 2023-2024 School Year.
data. This improves the state-required compliance and Future enhancements include late bus and student scan
reporting process for bus inspections. on/scan off notifications.

Student Bus Ridership - Leveraging the Universal Remote Bus Video Retrieval - Leveraging the ‘WiFi on
Student ID project with the installation of barcode readers Buses’ project, the team completed an effort to move the
on all buses, the District will begin scanning all riders with retrieval of requested bus videos from a manual process
an ID when entering or exiting buses starting this fall. This to a more automated solution. The new process allows
project has been piloted in several schools and is being a request to be scheduled from a master console by
expanded Districtwide. The project will allow insights into Transportation staff. Once scheduled, the next time the
many areas of daily bus operations, including student bus is started and obtains a WiFi signal from the facility
ridership, when and where a student got on or off a bus, or school bus loop, it will automatically pull the requested
students who haven’t registered for transportation, etc. To video to a District server. The video can then be accessed
be fully implemented, Bus Ridership will need Universal remotely only by those with the proper permissions. This
IDs to be ubiquitous, a goal that can be reached as early has greatly improved and streamlined the bus video
as September. Data collection and analysis will decide retrieval process, allowing much faster overall access for
when the data set is ready to be integrated into FTE schools, School Police, Risk & Benefits, Legal, or any
surveys, Medicaid Reimbursement, or other use cases. other District department.
This project has been a long time coming and will have
a positive impact on student safety and Transportation
operations for many years to come.