For Parents Archives - Page 2 of 11

15 School Bus Safety Ideas You Can Share With Everyone

Posted on September 7, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

Safety begins at home. All in an attempt for everyone concerned to ensure that students reach their destination safe and sound, parents should play a major role.

They should do their bit in educating kids about safety rules that need to be followed by their wards. Additionally, life with its uncertainties in the form of an unforeseen eventuality caused by an errant motorist may cause a road accident involving a school bus.

For the sake of informing everyone about the safety parameters concerning school buses plying on roads, here are 15 safety tips that are categorized under the heads of those meant for parents and those that are given out to motorists on the road.

Firstly, let us look at the 8-fold safety tips that parents should teach their school-going kids so as to ensure that every school trip is safe. These pointers should then be made public for everyone to pay heed and implement.

Tip 1 : A Yellow Signal Indicates That the Bus is About to Halt: It is the prime responsibility of the parents to educate their wards about the safety signals of school buses. One such explanation concerns the flashing of yellow lights on a school bus. Parents should teach their kids that blinking yellow lights indicate that the bus is preparing to halt.

Tip 2 : Escort Young Kids to Their School Bus Stops: Parents of young kids should always escort them to the pickup points and wait for their return at their designated drop points.

Tip3 : Give Clear Drop Point Instructions to Kids: Elder kids who need not always be accompanied to bus stops should be informed about the safest route to reach home. Parents should insist that their kids who get dropped at their bus stop should either head straight to their doorstep or to the normal after-school destination they are ordained to reach.

Tip 4 : Caregivers to Step In, Filling In for Parents: In the event parents have a change of plan with regard to picking up their kids from the school bus stop, they should keep the caregiver informed about the new plan. Caregivers should then ensure that these kids are not left stranded on the road after getting dropped from their school bus.

Tip 5 : Educate Kids about School Bus Safety Rules: Information is strength. In line with this adage, it is the duty of parents to educate their wards about the school bus safety rules. One important pointer that should be brought to the notice of kids is to avoid picking anything that has fallen down when they are boarding the bus. They should let their kids know that informing the bus driver about the fallen object can avoid accidents.

Tip 6 : Patience – A Virtue That Should Be Inculcated in Kids: Kids should be taught to patiently wait for the driver’s instruction to board the bus. Kids should wait for the driver’s instruction to cross the street and should avoid hurrying away from the bus after the bus comes to a halt at a drop point. Additionally, they should also be instructed to move away from the danger zone and to wait for the bus in a safe corner, away from the street.

Tip 7 : Better to Be Safe Than to Be Sorry: Parents should keep a watchful eye on what their kids wear and carry to school. In addition to avoide loosely hanging straps that can get caught to the doors, seats or handrails, school bags with strings not tied up should be avoided at all times.

Tip 8 : Good Conduct While Travelling in a School Bus: Parents should teach their kids that they should demonstrate a disciplined conduct while on board. In addition, they should din it in the minds of kids that misbehaving while travelling can lead to accidents. Distracting the attention of school bus drivers can lead to an unsafe environment, causing harm to all the students on board. Kids should also be taught to respect the instructions given out by the school bus driver with a belief that rules are meant for the safety of every student travelling.

Tip 9: Heeding to the Instructions of the School Bus Driver: Obedience is another trait that should be inculcated in kids, early on. While parents teach kids to obey their teachers in class, they should also teach them to be obedient towards the school bus driver. Secondly, Let us now move to the 6 safety tips that should be followed by motorists and proclaimed to everyone.

Tip 10: Rules are meant to be Followed: Motorists should always follow the rules specified by the government. The law states that motorists should be watchful about school buses and should stop when they see a school bus either picking or dropping kids at their respective locations.

Tip 11: Keep An Eye on the School Bus Signals: Motorists should always look for the stop arm and red lights that flash when the school bus halts. These two signals suggest that they should completely halt their vehicles without seeing them as “proceed with caution” indicators.

Tip 12 : Safety Instructions to Vehicles Plying alongside School Buses: These safety tips are meant for vehicles which are plying on a divided roadway sharing the road with a school bus.

Tip 13 : Shed Light on the Consequences of Errant Drivers: People residing in rural areas should be educated about the seriousness of impatient or preoccupied drivers. Such drivers who do not spare a thought about school buses can injure the kids who are either boarding or alighting the school bus.

Tip 14 : The Significance of a Stop Signal: Motorists should bear in mind that a school bus stop signal is non-negotiable. Going against such a signal attracts a traffic ticket which can be avoided if they keep their eyes open to school bus signals.

Tip 15: Safety Instructions for Drivers and Pedestrians: It is not only for pedestrians to follow traffic rules. Drivers should also take care of pedestrian traffic rules. All those riders who are in close range of the school bus stops and the school premises should be very vigilent at all times. They should completely halt their vehicles when they see a school bus either picking up or dropping students.

Closing Thoughts:

All the above-mentioned school bus safety tips should periodically be reviewed thoroughly. Once these tips are made public to everyone concerned about the security of school students, safety will be ensured.

In this way, every school bus trip will become a safe ride for kids to enjoy and for parents to be rest-assured. In addition to stay safe while boarding the bus, kids should be taught to maintain seating discipline and follow instructions of how to get down the bus.

Motorists who make their presence felt on roads are also expected to be watchful about school buses plying with many students.

How Many Countries Have Their Own GPS System

Posted on September 5, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

Global Positioning System (GPS), originally named Navstar GPS is a radio-navigation system developed for the Air Force operations of the United States and owned by the government of The United States.

However, there are other names given to the navigation systems that are owned and managed by various nations across the globe, all of which will be discussed under, at length. The GPS finds its extensive use in a number of national and international operations including lending a helping hand to navy and military operations.

When it comes to the daily and most common applications of GPS, you will find its promising role in tracking school kids, vehicles and even pets. GPS devices are also used to effectively manage a fleet in addition to providing real-time weather updates to anyone concerned.

There are countries that operate through their indigenous GPS systems. 5 of them are India, Russia, China, The European Union and Japan. This post sheds light on all the 5 GPS systems that are operated and managed by these countries.

NAVIC – India

All thanks to the efforts of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), which made India the proud owner of indigenous GPS and navigation system called NAVIC, since 2016. This is the 7^th and last navigation satellite launched by India. After the launch of this satellite, India can manage all its military navigation operations without depending on another country.

This is a regional navigation satellite system with 7 satellites working in tandem with each other to provide accurate coordinates of the targeted position. When you say that it is a regional satellite, it means that its real-time timing and positioning operations can span over India and any region in the Indian Territory extending up to 1,500 km.

Applications of NAVIC

NAVIC can become the leading light for travelers and hikers by providing terrestrial navigation information.
It can be used to lay hands on accurate location coordinates linked to aerial (air), terrestrial (land) and marine (water) navigation.
Finding an extensive use in the effective and timely management of disasters, NAVIC can also help in fleet management operation and vehicle tracking.
Along with providing important data points like precise timing and map coordinates, NAVIC can help you capture land surveying data.
Additional features include the broadcasting of voice and visual navigation information that can help drivers reach a certain preset destination.

Galileo – European Union

Getting its name from the well-known Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, Galileo is a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) that was built by the European Union (EU), in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). It is an interesting piece of trivia to note that this €10 billion project operates through 30 MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) satellites, most of which are operational since 2014.

All the satellites are expected to become fully-functional by 2020. Once the system is completed, Galileo will have 30 satellites which will orbit in space, interoperating with both Russia’s GLONASS and USA’s GPS.

Plan is up for essential lower-precision Galileo services to come with a “cost-free” tag that can be availed by civilians, the high-precision capabilities must be made available to paid commercial consumers. Galileo is supposed to offer vertical and horizontal position measurements with a 1 meter public accuracy.

Additionally, this GNSS project is intended to provide superior positioning services at greater latitudes, when compared to other positioning systems. Italy and Germany are the two companies that are majorly contributing to the Galileo project.

In contrast to the military operations that are directed by the USA’s GPS and Russia’s GLONASS, Galileo is a class apart. The noble intention behind Galileo is to enable civilians make the most of this global positioning system. 2016 was the year in which Galileo started off, by providing basic services, including helping users to be guided by navigation, timing and positioning information.

Applications of Galileo

The primary objective of Galileo is to offer an exclusive system of high-precision positioning to all the nations conglomerated under the umbrella of European Union. This was a step to avoid relying on GLONASS, the GPS system of Russian, Bei-Dou of China or the United States’ GPS. This was to counter an imminent danger coming from any one of the countries suspending their positioning services to the EU.

Another important application of Galileo is to come up with a novel global search and rescue (SAR) function, lending a helping hand to all the distressed people caught up in aerial and marine accidents. It is through this GNSS that the time taken to detect an emergency can be brought down to a mere 10 minutes from the earlier timeframe of 3 hours. That means, this facility will come to the rescue of the people in distress, whether they are trapped high up on the mountains or getting pulled into the ebb of deep waters. When it comes to rescue operations, the faster the better. This GNSS meets this pre-requisite of saving the lives of trapped people quickly.

Certain innovative start-ups and creative companies are deriving the benefits of various applications of satellite data dispersed by the space programs conducted by the EU.

A constellation refers to the group of satellites that provide information about location. Once all the 30 satellites in the Galileo’s constellation become operational, it will be able to point to users the accuracy of the signals. This is an important data point for scenarios concerning the safety of people. It should also be noted that Galileo’s navigation system provides a medium of two-way communication between the control stations on the ground and the satellites in orbit.

Last but not the least, Galileo’s positioning functionalities make their strong presence felt in a number of areas including railways, agriculture, ships, autonomous and connected vehicles, drones and Internet of Things (IoT).

GLONASS – Russia

Commissioned to provide global positioning information to its users since 1995, GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite) is a Russian space-based satellite navigation system. This system is meant to provide radio navigation satellite services.

Tagged as an alternative GPS service, GLONASS ranks second as the provider of global navigational system services with reasonable precision. If GLONASS is appended to many of the GPS navigation devices, it will favor fixing the positions of built-up areas which obstruct the flow of GPS satellites; accurately and quickly.

While the completion of the GLONASS constellation took place in 1995, the entire constellation turned non-operational by late 1990s with the loss of some satellites. However, under the presidency of Vladimir Putin, GLONASS began to regain its lost glory in the form of increased funding.

And in October 2011, the entire constellation of 24 satellites was reinstated, offering a complete global coverage. All thanks to the changed positioning of the GLONASS satellites, you can enjoy a higher degree of accuracy at high latitudes, far up in the north or south.

Key Applications of GLONASS

GLONASS combining with the capabilities of GPS finds its application in phone baseband chips sold by well-known vendors like Broadcom, Qualcomm, and Exynos.

It was in 2011 that Swepos, a network of satellite reference stations of Sweden providing real-time positioning information with meter accuracy was the first overseas company to employ the capabilities of GLONASS.

Again in 2011, GLONASS made its strong presence felt in the smartphone business. Devices that were launched in 2011 were: Samsung’s Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note II along with Sony Ericsson and Google Nexus 10 incorporated the positives of GLONASS. Tablets and smartphones that were launched in 2011 were in a position to uncover the features of high-degree accuracy and speed locking in challenging conditions.

Bei-Dou – China

Moving on to the 4^th country that operates through its indigenous satellite navigation system, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is a contribution from China, exclusively for regional coverage. This system operates with two separate satellite constellations.

The first BeiDou system, also known as BeiDou-1 was formally named as BeiDou Satellite Navigation Experimental System. This system operated through 3 satellites that provided restricted coverage along with certain navigation services to the Chinese and the users in neighboring areas.

However BeiDou-1 could not see the light of the day by the end of 2012.

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), also known as BeiDou-2 was the name given to the 2^nd generation of BeiDou. Colloquially called COMPASS, this system was operational in China since December 2011.

This system had 10 satellites in orbit; a partial constellation. From December 2012 onwards this system offered positioning information to users in the Asia-Pacific region.

It was in 2015 when China started developing its 3^rd generation BeiDou system (BeiDou-3) so as to make its presence felt in the global coverage constellation. Until January, BeiDou-3 successfully launched 9 satellites.

However, the target is to launch 35 satellites by 2020, with an aim to provide global positioning services. It should be noted that the BeiDou navigation system has 3 primary advantages when compared to GPS navigation systems for emergencies.

They are two-way communication (bi-directional communication) which is much more secure and highly reliable.

Interesting Applications of Bei-Dou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)

When it comes to creativity, nothing can stop the innate intellect of the Chinese. Here are some exciting applications of Bei-Dou that were churned out by Chinese firms.

China’s native Bei-Dou navigation system has some interesting uses that can simplify your everyday life. All the way from bank cards to shared bicycles, this navigation system can also help in identifying unmanned patrol vehicles.

Bank Cards – Most of the modern day bank cards consist of chips which provide the much-needed safety cover against fraudulent monetary transactions. It is through BDS that you will be in a strong position to lay hands on the exact location of every online transaction. Making the most of accurate positioning technology, you can safeguard yourself from online financial frauds.

Shared Bicycles – Since accurate positioning is significant information to riders of shared bikes, programmed chips employing the capabilities of BDS are being developed.

The capabilities of BDS can be applied to inspect the performance of all those drivers who have registered to appear for certificate tests.

The navigation technology can also be used to locate unmanned patrol vehicles in residential areas when they are fitted with monitoring cameras.

Security guards braving extreme weather conditions can rely on the positioning information shared by BDS.

Other applications of BDS include: laying of underground pipelines in urban areas and applications connected to the field of agriculture.

QZSS – Japan

The abbreviation of Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) is a Japanese project aimed at developing a four-satellite time transfer system along with a satellite-based augmentation system. Tagged as a regional coverage system, the first trial happened in September 2010 through a demonstration satellite.

The primary aim of QZSS is to offer highly stable and accurate positioning information to the Asia-Oceania region, focusing on Japan. Originally, QZSS was in the hands of the Advanced Space Business Corporation (ASBC).

However, with the dissolution of ASBC in 2007, the commissioning work was transferred to JAXA in tandem with Satellite Positioning Research and Application Center (SPAC) which was set-up in 2007.

It is a known fact that navigation functions facilitate internet browsing through smartphones and car navigation systems through the use of positioning signals coming from satellites.

QZSS humorously named Michibiki (meaning “showing the way” or “guiding”) is meant to do just that so that users can detect the current location using satellite positioning services.

Since most of the satellite positioning services employ the capabilities of USA’s GPS satellites, QZSS will become a four-satellite constellation in 2018 when teamed with GPS.

It is an important piece of information to note that three of QZSS’ satellites can be visible at all times from any of the locations linked to the Asia-Oceania regions. With these visible satellites in place, all those businesses which thrive on spatial and geographical data points can expand and grow.

Proposed Applications of QZSS

Intending to meet the positioning needs of civilians, Michibiki is aiming to offer a positioning accuracy close to inches.
As mentioned earlier, satellite geo-location systems will help civilians to carry out internet browsing on their smartphones alongside making car navigation a breeze.
Japan, a country known for its unforgiving and rough mountains can experience an obstruction to GPS signals. It is for this very reason that QZSS can complement the US operated GPS to provide positioning signals even on mountains.
Japan has a plan to set-up a constellation of 7 satellites by 2023.

Closing Thoughts

While it is very interesting to note that the GPS of United States of America operates 32 medium Earth Orbit satellites in six different orbits, The USA is a nation that utilizes plenty of resources offered by satellite navigation systems.

Next in line are the 5 countries that were discussed in detail. GPS and GLONASS come across as global navigation systems in which India, Japan and China are the countries that operate regional navigation systems so as to facilitate many businesses in different niches.

8 School Bus Games You Can Download Now On Android

Posted on August 22, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

If you have a craze for school bus games, there are hundreds of options available on Android. Driving games have always been popular among players. But school bus games add more attachment and indulge you in a personal way.

This article has the best school bus games that you can download on Android.

1. City School Bus Coach Simulator

With a combination of city bus, school bus and other buses, this simulator game offers satisfaction to your bus riding wishes. You get to drive multiple buses and coach. The rush on the roads and the responsibility of pick up and drop off make this simulator more interesting than other school bus games.

The best features of this game include multi-angle camera view. Advanced 3D graphics that give realistic views of the virtual city. Players can complete levels to attain new buses and enjoy more advanced simulator experiences.

2. High School Bus Driving 3D

Another simulation game that satisfies your school bus driving desires. The fun and energetic levels of this game allow you to become a disciplined citizen and understand the responsibilities in traffic. The tasks change with levels you complete and so is the difficulty.

As a driver in the game, you are required to go to various bus stops and pick children. Traffic rules are presented in monitor and follow. The game notifies when you need to blow horn. Using indicators and maintaining a safe speed is also included in the rules of this app game.

Game quality and graphics’ appeal create an engaging environment to play. You learn a lot about the city environment, school bus driving and following traffic rules.

3. City School Bus Drive Fun

This game shows a luxurious school bus that moves from one part of the city to others. This game is a blend of time management, driving, and coaching. With 3D graphics, this bus driving game offers enjoyable moments on the school bus. The tracks that are offered seem challenging, which also improve the engagement. You can win laps by completing trails provided as challenges.

Dodging high traffic on the roads becomes a great challenge. This school bus game is more adventurous than many other choices in this category.

4. Flying School Bus

A different approach to school bus game is possible with game. This free Android game offers flying experience when you ride the virtual school bus.

As you fly your bus, the challenges become different compared to other school bus games. For instance, this game presents extreme conditions of weather, which you have to conquer. The same game also offers helicopter, airplane and other flying experiences as well.

The graphics feel as if you are in the future when school buses have started flying. You can take your school bus game love to a new level and feel like a pilot. The views look beautiful and provide extreme situations to bring thrill in the game.

5. Hill School Bus

An uphill location increases the toughness of a driving game, especially when you have a large vehicle to drive. Driving a heavy bus to its ultimate destination is the task you need to fulfill. The hill area presents sharp turns in the beautiful view of the surroundings. Every successful driver drops children safely to their home.

The path to the destinations can seem crazy, but they all add excitement to the experience. In fact, the routes in this game are the most powerful feature that makes it different. You feel thrilled to control the bus when taking sharp turns.

6. Modern City School Bus Simulator

In an urban city environment, you get to drive a school bus, manage parking, and handle passengers in a virtual yet realistic way. The paths can seem moderately difficult, but they all align with the real city traffic scenarios. Your ultimate task is to pick up and drop off students to and from schools.

The big city environment and smooth control systems impress you more with effective sounds attached to the scenarios.

7. School Bus Driver 3D Simulator

TapinatorInc included some crazy missions with school bus driving simulations. This way, the game reaches to a whole new level. From the front seat, you get to explore the road without getting into messy traffic situations. Obstacles are critical and require focus, otherwise, you may face crash.

There are 30 fun missions with challenges that you will enjoy. The realistic traffic and top-notch sound effects make you more engaged in the game.

8. Off Road School Bus

What happens when a school bus goes off the road?! You can explore this idea through Off Road School Bus Android game. The challenges in this game include off-road trails that make bus handling more difficult and adventurous. Road hurdles become crazier and you face certain limitations due to the off road trails.

A school bus doesn’t act like a monster truck. Hence, driving a bus on these roads requires a responsible nature and you have to follow some rules to keep your bus on the track.

The game offers a touch steering, tilts steering, and buttons to use when driving. The traffic has been designed with AI, which creates realistic scenarios when you use brakes or take turns.

These are the best and unique school bus games available on Android. You can choose any one that seems more suitable to your wish.

TrackSchoolBus Smart Bands Ensure Your Kid’s Safety

Posted on August 20, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

When it comes to the safety and security of school children, there are umpteen modern alternatives that come in as blessings. While GPS tracking attached to school buses is one of the safety means, you can also look at the options of equipping your kids with safety watches or wristbands.

These safety devices help you keep a close watch on the whereabouts of your kids; whether at school or out on a school excursion with teachers and schoolmates. These devices provide the much-needed information about the exact location of your kids.

If you are the parent of a small kid who does not know how to use a smartphone or all those kids who cannot clearly express themselves, smart bands come as their protectors.

This blog sheds light on all the ways in which smart bands from TrackSchoolBus ensure the safety of young kids.

Smart Bands from TrackSchoolBus – The Safety Wearables for School Kids

TrackSchoolBus is one of the leading providers of wearable tracking devices to kids. This noble initiative offers modern and innovative ideas to protect your school-going kids.

The Smart Bands offered by TrackSchoolBus are embedded with geo-fencing features which come up with alerts about the location changes of your kids.

All thanks to the multipurpose geo-fencing capability of these safety bands, you can keep a close watch on your kids who are out on a school excursion or even while they are in the school premises. Along with assisting you track your kids, the geo-fencing software steps in to record the attendance of your kids.

Heave a Sigh of Relief with Smart Bands from TrackSchoolBus

If you are a parent contemplating to sign up with TrackSchoolBus for securing smart bands for your kids, you can check out this long list of benefits offered by these smart devices.

For your convenience, you can look at these benefits under two heads: functional benefits and operational benefits.

Functional Benefits:

Real-Time Tracking Feature: This feature deserves a special mention because of their ability to perform real-time tracking. Let them go on a school picnic or sit within the four walls of a classroom, these Smart Bands provide you with real-time tracking details.
Instant Alerts Avert Mishaps: Parents and school authorities who have signed up with TrackSchoolBus for the supply of smart bands can benefit from instant alerts. The tracking software installed in these smart devices throws up alerts which pop-up on the screens of your smartphones. The geo-fencing alerts specify the real-time location of your kid.
Tracking Perimeter: The Smart Bands provide accurate information within a range of 20 m to 30 m.
Lay Hands on The Last Tracked Location: The smart bands from TrackSchoolBus help you recognize the last tracked location.
Error-Free Location Details: With the TrackSchoolBus smart bands by your side, there is no scope for any errors. You can enjoy error-free location details of your kids at all times. That means, these are brilliant safety devices that are exclusively meant to protect your school-going kids from any sort of eventuality.

Operational Benefits:

Durability: You will always look for the durability of electronic gadgets. With this primary objective in mind, smart bands from TrackSchoolBus come with a minimum 12-month battery life, without needing to connect them to a charger.
Extended Life Coming from Resistance to Water and Grime: Kids are known to be messy and careless. Keeping these two innate tendencies of young children in mind, these smart bands made in such a way that they are 100% resistant to water and grime.
Additional Features: Every Smart Band comes with Bluetooth and location sensing features.
Independent of Operating System: This Smart Band can be connected to your Android or iOS-powered smart phones.
Global Presence: Another advantage that makes the Smart Bands of TrackSchoolBus unique is linked to their global presence. You can pick up these Smart Bands from most of the countries.
Independent of Wi-Fi or Cellular Data Connection: Fret no more if your Wi-Fi or cellular data connectivity is lost. You can still track your kids’ location using the Bluetooth feature.
Affordability: TrackSchoolBus offers these Smart Bands to all concerned at affordable prices.
Size Variants: The Smart Bands come in three sizes. A small Smart Band comes with a 13 cm diameter. A medium Smart Band measures 14 cm and 15 cm as the diameter of the large Smart Band.

Key Takeaways

There is no dearth for safety mechanisms meant to protect school kids. A modern and viable option is to provide young kids with wearables in the form of smart bands.

When your kids wear these safety devices on their wrists, you can have a sigh of relief about their well-being. Practically replacing RFID cards which can pose operational issues to kids, Smart Bands from TrackSchoolBus can protect kids from accidents and mishaps.

You can not only track your kids but also restrict their movements as and when the need arises.

Real Time Bus Tracking App – 12 Things You Need to Know

Posted on August 10, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

A real time bus tracking app will allow you to determine the precise real-time location of your kids and their school buses. It also has the ability to record location of school bus at specified intervals.

Nowadays, all these apps have been designed to be compatible with all mobile platforms and other high-end widgets.

Running a school bus is not an easy task, particularly if you are in charge of handling more number of school buses. You will have to take much effort in knowing the exact location of your school buses.

This means that you have to get yourself familiar with the features of a real time bus tracking app before heading out to use one.

This blog will inform you about 15 things you must know about the real time bus tracking app.

1. Lessen Operating Costs

Real-time bus tracking app comes equipped with a good fleet administration system or GPS tracking system. This will allow you to decide the shortest as well as the best routes for your school buses.

It will definitely aid you considerably in reducing your school bus fuel consumption, which, in turn, will allow you to cut needless overtime expenses.

2. Save Your Time

You can save much of your time by tracking school buses in real time. There are instances when your school bus gets trapped in the traffic jam for hours.

With the best school bus tracking software, you will be capable of guiding your drivers to shun the hectic routes in a real-time basis, thus saving much of your time as well as the riding time of your school bus.

3. Decrease Downtime

Dipping downtime plays a vital role in improving the output as well as the prosperity of your school bus management. The real-time school bus tracking through an app will aid you significantly in making knowledgeable decisions and plan trips more resourcefully.

4. Make the Most of the Resources

Real-time school bus tracking apps not only help the parent but also help with the school authorities with monitoring your buses and getting comprehensive insights on driver performance, fuel utilization, engine inactiveness, etc.

This will result in using resources efficiently without wasting more amount of money.

5. Maximize the Bus Use

School authorities can take the maximum advantage of your school buses by tracking school bus in real time.

This will be capable of using the information and analysis received from the app to eradicate vehicle inactive time, lessen excess speeding, and reduce the consumption of fuel.

6. Keep Kids and Parents Happy

The real-time school bus tracking will allow school authorities to offer the required safety to your kids. This will offer a peace of mind to their parents, as they will know that their kids are safe in their school buses. It will allow improving your loyalty to the parents, as well.

7. Predictable

The real-time school bus tracking can provide the running time of school buses. This means that parents will never come across uncertainty in your school bus transportation.

Thus, you will be capable of providing parents with real-time tracking information, exact delivery times, and other important details.

8. Handle Bus Staff Efficiently

The real time bus tracking will help school authorities substantially in managing attendants and drivers in an effective way. You can pull up the information obtained from the tracking system, examine it, and can take remedial measures whenever obligatory.

9. Better Route Scheduling

The real-time school bus tracking helps greatly in identifying routes that will save both your money and time. You will be capable of designing a smart route scheduling, which, in turn, will decrease fruitless work. This will allow you to get rid of needless fuel costs, as well.

8 School Bus Route Auto Allocation Features from TrackSchoolBus

10. Locate Your Lost School Bus

You can find your stolen or lost school buses easily through the real-time school bus tracking, which, in turn, will decrease your maintenance expenses.

You can watch key aspects, as well, like engine oil levels and the overall physical condition of your school buses. The information from the fleet administration system will help you with ascertaining the time of routine inspection of your school buses.

11. Well-Timed Notifications

Tracking your school bus in real time will offer you the ability to send email or SMS alerts when your school buses go out of your school zone. In addition, you can propel appropriate real-time alerts in case of mishaps and other unforeseen incidents, so that you can take the essential steps.

12. Safety

The real-time school bus tracking will perk up the safety of your school students and bus staff through monitoring your buses.

If any troublesome incident happens, you will be capable of offering direct support and assistance to your bus attendants and drivers. It can even help you execute both-way communication between you and your drivers.

How to Secure Wheelchair-Bound Students in a School Bus

Posted on July 27, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

When it comes to transporting disabled students, school bus driver has an important role to play. As some students are wheelchair bound, they need proper secure to and from schools.

But there is always a question on how to handle these students in a proper way without causing any kind to harm to them.

School employees are equally responsible for the safety of wheelchair-bound students from entering their school to reaching their home.

Driver

Usually, school bus drivers have the responsibility of transporting students with special needs to and from school via school bus. Some schools employ a bus attendant or a monitor to help students with disability to board and de-board the school buses.

Both these people should ensure that they know precisely how to do this securely and in a well manner.

Parent

While waiting for the school bus, parents of the wheelchair-bound students are supposed to ensure that their disabled kids are at the curb punctually with the suitable equipment.

They have to oversee the student until the arrival of their school bus. And also parents should be present at the pickup points earlier to the arrival of school bus.

Parents may need to help the kid with boarding them onto the school bus, fasten the wheelchair or seat belt.

It is still the liability of the driver of the school bus to verify and ensure the student, as well as the wheelchair, is secured well prior to moving the bus.

Teacher

The responsibilities of teachers in securing the wheelchair-bound students are same as those of the parents.

They are responsible to meet the students upon arrival at their school and to get them at the pick-up place promptly and oversee the students until the departure of the school bus.

Bus attendant

Bus attendants are also equally responsible for the safest transportation of wheelchair-bound students.

In the bus, the attendant is allotted to help all students. While on the school bus, the attendant is generally under the control of school bus driver.

Loading and Unloading of Wheelchair-Bound Students

General guidelines

When the student is in the wheelchair, he or she should face away from the bus at all times. The brakes, as well as the roll stops of wheelchair should be in locked condition.

Loading process

First, the lift door should be opened and secured. The wheelchair can be unfolded by using a hand-held control. Now the platform should be lowered pending it rests completely on the ground.

Now the student can be gently positioned on the wheelchair by unfolding the outboard roll stop and fastening the seat belt of wheelchair around the student. Ensure that the student faces away from the bus.

Securing in the bus

Once the student is safely secured in the school bus, check once again if the brakes and the roll stops of the device are in locked position. Now, turn off the power of device and if possible, have the wheelchair student cling to the handrails.

Help the student to keep his or her legs and arms within the lift quarter and ahead of the moving parts.

Now, activate the lift controls and stand beside the platform at the corner in the front. Continue to keep one hand on the device while it is lifting and then activate the controls of wheelchair through other hand.

Once the platform attains the floor level, hang up or set down the controls. Now, release the brakes of the wheelchair and gently push it into the school bus. Now, by setting brakes of device, fold the lift into journey position.

Position the wheelchair student consistent with the Individualized Education Program (IEP). Move the student to a usual forward facing the bus seat by using appropriate lifting methods and make student as well as wheelchair safe.

Unloading of the wheelchair student

While unloading a wheelchair student with a power-driven wheelchair, it should be ensured that the student is not supposed to drive onto the platform, except cleared to perform so by the whole IEP team. Now, switch off the motor and push the wheelchair manually onto the platform.

During the loading and unloading process, do not forget to inform the wheelchair student about what you are going to do, prior to doing it.

Securing the wheelchair-bound students

It is always safe for the wheelchair bound students to use a three-point system while boarding school bus. While the wheelchair-bound students are boarding the school bus, it is always safe by using a three-point system.

The restraint system of the occupants is separate from the secure system of the wheelchair. The three-point system protects the torso as well as the pelvis of the disabled students.

While attaching the restraint system, it can be joined to the anchorage points of the school bus. The system can also be attached to the securement system of device, device itself, or by following the instructions of the of wheelchair manufacturers.

Above all, the school bus driver is supposed to consider the appropriate place to stop the bus to load and unload the wheelchair-bound students easily and safely.

Two Factor Attendence is a feature in TrackSchoolBus app provides confirmation to parents and schools whether students arrived to / from school on time.

Finally

Wheelchair students are needed to be transported in a school bus only in the forward-facing direction. They should be appropriately secured with the three-point pelvic and shoulder as well as with the four-point dock restraint system.

Several school buses come attached with a frame, as well, for attaching the tie-down straps. School management should make sure that their buses are properly prepared to transport wheelchair-bound kids to and from school in a safe and comfortable way.

The school management should also pay attention to consider adding extra safety measures into their school buses to transport these disabled students.

10 School Bus Safety Tips for Children [Infographic]

Posted on July 23, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

There are more than 23 million children, for whom school bus is the only of transportation for to and from schools. Some parents consider their own vehicles to pick and drop their children to schools, but most of the families prefer school bus due to their busy work schedules.

School buses are considered as the safest mode of transportation for school going children staying far away from children. It is a proven fact that opting school bus is thousand times safer than travelling in own vehicle.

When you consider school bus for your children, you worry about their safety which doesn’t have an end even if they get older. Usually children get excited on the bus. Being careless, running and turning around while getting on and off the bus can be dangerous. So it is essential to teach children regarding how to stay safe on the school bus.

It’s a fact that school buses are the safest mode for school going children to travel but still it can be dangerous if they act carelessly. If you are a parent or a teacher, it is your responsibility to teach kids about school bus safety tips.

For your help, we Trackschoolbus have mentioned few school bus safety tips in the form of infographic for children which they must follow for a safe journey.

20 Ways to Introduce School Bus Safety

Posted on July 13, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

School buses are the safest mode of transportation for students to travel to and from their schools. The safety of school buses starts with recruiting qualified drivers and offering them the required training on traffic regulations and on handling the buses safely. School districts should make them understand their responsibility in transporting the school students safely to and from their schools.

Drivers also play an important role in ensuring school bus safety. So while choosing school bus driver, you must be very careful and selective. This is the most vital factor that every school district is supposed to consider while focusing on their school bus safety.

Here are the other 20 ways that a school management can focus on improving the safety of their school buses.

1. Speed Restriction

The transportation division of every school should instruct their drivers not to drive their school bus beyond the specified speed limit. This can be monitored easily by installing a GPS tracking system on their school buses.

2. Unoccupied back seats

If possible, the last two seat rows at the back of the bus can be made empty. This will keep kids free of wounds due to back collisions.

3. Three-Bus Rule

This means that the bus attendant should allow three students at a time for boarding their buses. This practice is particularly important at traffic-prone bus stops. This is because kids are more susceptible to be wounded while getting in and getting out of bus in these areas.

5. Signal

School bus drivers are supposed to signal school kids when the time is safe and suitable for them to cross the road while boarding their buses. Parents should also educate their kids on crossing the road safety.

6. Turning Techniques

School administration should educate their drivers on handling their buses safely during the bends to avoid kids falling down from their seats. This will also prevent the bus from knocking down the oncoming vehicles.

7. Clean floor

School districts should emphasize their bus drivers to keep the floor of the bus clean. This will prevent kids from skidding and being wounded.

8. Seating

Both bus attendants and drivers should ensure that the school kids are appropriately seated. This means that they should check that no part of the kids’ body is projecting the seating aisle.

9. Safe bus stops

School bus drivers have to take utmost care in bus stops where no cars or other vehicles are parked. This can be hazardous not only for students but also for drivers.

10. Distraction

The maximum safety of school bus mainly counts on continuing focused and staying away from disruptions. If students come across any problems in the bus, the driver should first resolve those problems to avoid unnecessary distractions while driving the bus.

12. Safety rules

Communicating the school bus regulations with kids, particularly new occupants, is the key to preserve an organized, safe setting on and around the school bus.

13. School bus backing

School bus drivers should take utmost care while backing their buses. If necessary, they should examine the road in front for any condition that might cause them to back. This can avoid accidental clash with the vehicle standing behind their school bus.

14. Escorting kids

School bus students are more susceptible when they are outside the bus, mostly when they have to cross the road. In such cases, school bus attendants or drivers should escort kids across the road to ensure safety.

15. Driver responsibility

Drivers should drive their school buses with the maximum responsibility. They should communicate with their transport manager whenever there are changes in the road or bus stops.

16. Tipping the drivers

School administrators are supposed to offer useful and helpful tips to their drivers every morning on driving their buses safely. This will remind them about overall school bus safety.

17. Bullying

Bullying is one of the things happens in the school bus. This is because school kids are more vulnerable to bullying when they are in the bus rather than outside. So, to avoid these, school districts should educate bus staff on how to handle these situations in a well manner.

18. Bus check

Both the attendants and drivers should check their school bus whether any kid is still inside the bus after the completion of trip. Therefore, the best way to avoid this problem is marking attendance of kids when they enter and exit their bus.

19. Safety Vests

School management should instruct the school bus drivers and attendants to wear the reflective security vests. This will allow them to perk up protection in school bus lots.

20. Evacuation training

School administration should offer necessary training to their school bus students on the way to evacuate their school buses if any untoward incident happens. This is important for the elementary level students.

10 Top Wearable GPS Tracking Devices for Kid Safety

Posted on July 9, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

Modern-day parents experience many challenges, among which the toughest one is ensuring the safety of their school-going kids or when they are out of their sight. When children grow, they may eager to explore, drive limitations, and may create their own set of laws.

However, the wearable GPS trackers for kids will allow parents overcome the challenges easily. Whether your kid is at an amusement park, on a family outing, or on a school tour, these devices will offer you a peace of mind in knowing that they are safe.

Here is the list of 10 top wearable GPS tracking devices to ensure your kids' safety.

1. AngelSense Kids GPS Tracker

This GPS tracker for kids from AngelSense comes with a bounty of features, ranging from security-area setup to quickest updates. This is the best monitoring device for parents, particularly for those having kids with autism or with other disabilities, who may often get lost.

This tracker offers the necessary protection to such kids and serenity to their parents. The Listen-In function feature of the device allows parents to track their child’s daily activity, guaranteeing their disabled kids are not neglected, ill-treated, or lost.

2. hereO 2 GPS Watch for Kids

Even though kids' GPS trackers are available in all sizes and shapes, this GPS Watch for Kids is a perfect companion for them as far as their safety is concerned. This aesthetically designed kid's tracking device comes with a range of vivacious colors, which will definitely attract the fashion sense of your child, so they will wear this device throughout the day with the greatest interest.

As it comes with a slim design, it will offer a comfortable fit to your kid's hands. This tracking device comes with proximity alerts, location history, safety-zone setup, and other beneficial features. Thus, you can rest guaranteed that your kids would be in a safe condition wherever they go.

3. AmbyGear Smartwatch

This Smartwatch from AmbyGear will create an interest in your kids to wear it throughout the day. This is because it will keep your kids busy all through the day with fun games, besides allowing them to learn activities. The tracking watch will reward your kids with points and optimistic reinforcement whenever they do something right. This wearable tracker will also allow your children to track you. This feature will be quite helpful whenever your kids feel scared or panicked.

4. Weenect Kids GPS Child Tracker

Weenect designs this kids GPS child-tracking device with sophisticated tracking abilities. It comes equipped with a live atlas, compass, as well as with the distance countdown trailing. This allows the device to offer supreme location precision, which, in turn will offer the required serenity to the parents. Besides a panic button, security region setup, and both-way calling facilities, this tracking device has the ability to cover all the essentials to make your kids feel safe.

5. My Buddy Tag Bluetooth Wristband

Usually, kids will feel a great pleasure when they are in pools, but simultaneously, it will also make them drown sometimes. In this situation, the role of Tag Bluetooth Wristband from My Buddy appears. This tracking device will aid you considerably in tracking your kid when he or she is out of your sight.

The unique feature of this tracking device is its warning system. This system will warn your kids when the wristband is submerged in the water for five successive seconds. It will send out a warning, assisting to keep your child safe when he or she is playing in the pool.

6. Amber Alert GPS Locator

Every parent would strive to keep their kids safe in all scenarios, but they cannot predict everything. Occasionally, some unforeseen happens, so during these troublesome situations, the kid GPS tracker from Amber Alert can aid substantially in lessening the odds of troublesome scenarios.

This tracking device comes with imposing features, such as place tracking, warnings, and speed discovery. It will assist you to monitor the whereabouts of your kid at all times. It can even tap into database of the National Sex Offender to display whether your kid is inside 500 feet of a sex criminal. Thus, you will be capable of preventing a crime potentially earlier than it happens.

7. GizmoPal 2 Kids GPS Watch

Although little ones are the major part of the life of every parent, unfortunately, they cannot be with their kids at all times. Your children will have their own life, ranging from the daycare to the after-school actions. This GPS Watch from GizmoPal will allow your kids to keep in contact with you, even when they are out of your sight. This kids tracker come with the uncomplicated functionality and design, allowing younger children to know precisely what keys they have to press if they want to contact you.

8. KiGO Watch

Losing a kid is a scary experience for every parent and it is the worst terrifying experience, as well. Unlike other wearable GPS trackers that work only in home, this wearable tracker from KiGO offers parents to track their kids abroad. As it comes with the small and frivolous design, it will offer a comfortable fit to your kids. You can also feel comfortable while allowing your kid going to the places of their interest with 100% confidence.

9. dokiWatch

The dokiWatch allows kids to get that exciting experience, as it comes equipped with an incorporated camera and video calling abilities. This simplifies the job of parents to monitor their kids, irrespective of the distance they are located. The device comes with a safety feature, known as SOS. When your kids activate this feature, the device will send you emergency notifications as well as the recordings of the surroundings of your kid.

10. TickTalk Touch Screen Kids Wearable Tracker

TickTalk is a two-in-one mobile phone that comes incorporated with the kid locator. This smartphone is easy to use by all and the highlight of this tracking device is its kid-friendly calling interface. It will allow your kids to operate easily whenever they need the help of their parents. This kid tracker supports text as well as voice messages. It is a comfortable wearable tracking device to know whether your kids are in their classroom or on their playground.

20 Remarkable Uses of GPS in Everyday Life

Posted on June 1, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

The Global positioning system (GPS) is popular now-a-days as a satellite-based navigation system that gives information about geo-location and data about time to receiver. The facility is available to anyone at any place in the world.

The system does not need the user to send any data as it operates with complete independence without any telephonic and internet connection, although the involvement of these technologies could add to the functioning of the system.

Military, civil, and commercial users get the support of the system because it provides them with vital information about positions of places and things around the world. Owned by United States Government, GPS functions under the supervision of United States Air Force.

As everyone thinks that GPS is only for vehicle navigation, interactive mapping, use in space-age technology, the reality is it has now-a-days advanced a lot to become part-and-parcel of everyday life.

Let’s know about some of the remarkable uses of GPS in everyday life.

1. Convenience in Doing Business Logistics

A new trend has come to exist in the business logistics. Many companies are now-a-days tracking the movement of their trucks through GPS system with an intention to ascertain the whereabouts of their employees and their related movement in transit. This helps in bringing improvement in making timely deliveries and developing a good rapport with the customers.

2. Farming – The Other Important Area for GPS Application

As agriculture is the other important area, where NASA is planning to bring development with the application of GPS system, a remarkable change would get noticed in the methods of farming. In a fresh initiative, NASA has decided to equip tractors with GPS sensors.

The sensors would help remarkably to navigate during night-time and periods of visibility. In addition to that, scientists would plant soil sensors and other types of monitors to know about the areas that need better watering, fertilization, and weed control.

3. Avail Emergency Help at the Road-side

While travelling, a person could need emergency help for anything. He would not have to either shout or call anyone for help but simply press a button to get help. Moreover, the help comes at the specified place, where the person would need it.

4. Let’s Tackle Personal Emergencies

Nowadays, users could tie GPS-based band to their wrist or get taped to their body. The device could monitor vital body signs and in case of medical emergency, the device could alert and call for medical help through wireless communication.

5. No Difficulty in Finding Lost Animals

As now-a-days various companies sell GPS featured tracking device, which they could get implanted to the bodies of pets. The device tracks the whereabouts of the pets and monitors their heart-rate and body temperature.

6. Get Help from the Emergency Personnel

When a person gets lost without finding his/her way out of the place, the GPS could pin-point his/her location and help the emergency personnel search and get him. When travelling in a public carrier service, the installed GPS in the carrier could help in pin-pointing the presence of the person in a particular place.

7. Greatly helpful in finding short-cuts and other directions for the destinations

When the person has a time-bound engagement, the GPS could easily give help by giving him/her alternative directions and short-cuts to reach the place. This feature is greatly helpful as the person does not have to fumble his/her way out and struggle for time management.

8. Most Helpful in Saving Fuel

In a developing nation like India, people experience regular price-hikes of fuel. A tracking device, installed on the top of the bus, could help a lot in controlling fuel cost.

The GPS tracker helps greatly in pre-planning the movement of the buses in their routes. This could optimize the returns from the movement of the buses and bring improvement in fuel consumption and reduction in maintenance costs.

9. Employee Transportation

Using GPS tracking systems, you can manage employee transportation fleet and improve its efficiency. You can save time and fuel, thereby minimizing expenses.

10. Keep an Eye on the Luggage, Laptop, and Important Belongings

While travelling, the feature in the GPS could track the luggage, laptop, and important personal belongings. With this feature, the owner of the belongings would get instant notification regarding any attempt of theft.

11. Track and Find Friends, Family, and Relatives at the Crowded Place

While participating in a crowed gathering, concert, or graduation ceremony, GPS has the feature to track relatives, friends, and family members and help the person in locating his beloved ones easily.

12. No Worries for Getting Lost in an Unfamiliar Place

The traveler does not have to worry if he/she gets lost in an unfamiliar place. In case, the GPS is active, it becomes really easier to get back to the destination without any hassle.

13. Really helpful in documentation

GPS tracker has the utility of real-time documentation. The device could record the event as those take place. This lends incredible transparency to the services.

As it also does not need human intervention, the documentation process literally remains error-free. Leaving no chance for conflicts of statements in the documentation, the documents could become excellent reference papers.

14. Criminals Even Get Tracked

GPS tracking features have really helped police to nab criminals, especially drug peddlers. Police have even successfully tracked drug thieves. Police concealed decoy drug parcels under GPS and tracked the criminals successfully to nab them with important information. This has opened another dimension in the use of GPS and given authorities necessary help in controlling drugs-related crimes.

15. Useful in Drawing Up Artistic Works

Michel Wallace – the famous American artiste – performed a huge etch-a-sketch and showed off her electronic drawings.

Equipping her bike with a GPS tracker, he rode around the American city and artistically drew a wonderful painting with the help of mapping software. His intricate drawing of the lost luxury ship, Titanic, was a sensation on the occasion of 100^th year of the ocean liner’s sinking.

16. Helpful in Improving Driving Ethics

GPS system has proven its mettle in improving ethics in the driving patterns. The device could help in controlling over-speeding, rough-braking, and unnecessary accelerations. This is really helpful in the avoidance of accidents and keeping the lives of passengers safe.

17. Geo Caching – The Wonderful Game by GPS

Researchers have even used the GPS features in setting up hi-tech treasure hunts. Geo-caching hobbyists keep the caches of trinkets. The trinkets are usually souvenir coins or toy plastic animals. The hobbyists keep those at different places on treasure maps.

As they post them online on different websites, it allows others to search for them. Some geo-caching events have even taken place in public parks, while the treasures were kept clandestinely at public places.

18. GPS could Even Guide Driverless Cars

Now-a-days, the car makers are trying hard to manufacture driverless cars. The engineers are making efforts to create a synergy of GPS, censors, and cameras that could make the driverless car see the light of the day.

In this the GPS would play the role of plotting car’s location, speed, and direction, which are related to destination. As in the near future, the car could become a major innovation as the features of GPS would definitely stay central to the functioning of the car.

19. Ingenious Application of GPS could save lives of People Suffering from Dementia

As the population throughout the world ages, there are a growing number of people, suffering from dementia. With the ingenious application of GPS, the researchers have developed inserts in the patients’ shoes that could keep track their movements easily.

The smart device in the shoe could even set an alarm as the patient leaves a designated area. Best tool for a company to minimize operating expenses.

The companies have realized that by investing in GPS tracking system, they could introduce best fleet management system. This would minimize operating expenses and boost up profitability of the ventures.

20. GPS could Even Guard Idols from Theft

In the year 2005, a new GPS technology was launched to protect the statues in the Churches and other religious organizations from theft. The GPS device in the statue could either send an alert signal or a text email to the authorities that would help them to track the idol or statue and recover it from the thieves.

As the cases of thefts of old statues and idols are on the rise throughout the world, such a step in tracking the theft cases would help in saving the heritage of the nations.