School Transport Provider Archives - Page 3 of 8

School Students Using Public Transportation – Pros and Cons

Posted on December 24, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

The decision to send our kids through public transportation (buses/trains) is, at the outset, a simple one. Most parents would, if they had infinite time and money, choose to drop them off themselves.

Sadly though, this is not the case for a large majority. With limited time and money, juggling responsibilities, they do a cost-benefit analysis. Interestingly enough, these are not the only reasons why the decision is taken.

While the alternatives to public transportation include the children cycling or walking to schools themselves, we will be primarily concerned with private cars (including carpooling) as the choice of public transportation, by default, assuming that there is some distance to be covered to reach the school.

Pros of Using Public Transportation

Minimum ambiguity, Maximum discipline

There won’t be any last minute dashes due to a parent’s hectic schedule. There is a scheduled stop at a scheduled time and the child needs to be there.

If the child doesn’t reach the stop on time, he/she will have to wait for the next bus. Through trial and error, the child knows for certain which bus she needs to catch.

A Multitude of Choices

The child has several choices for spending his/her time. From enjoying the solitude to making friends and spending time with them, to spending time reading or studying, the child makes the time of his/her own.

A Question of Friendship

Studies have shown that the adults who have close long-term friendships do better than their less social counterparts. This is especially important as the age when the child is attending middle school and/or high school is when intimate friendships are most often born.

Public transportation provides space for socialization and making friends with other children through frequent and regular interactions.

A Dollar Saved is a Dollar Earned

Several families have significant financial constraints. Public transportation is a (relatively) safe option for them to send their kids to school. This becomes even more important if their neighbours are sending their kids to the same school through the same means.

Stronger, Faster, Fitter

While this can’t be compared to children walking or cycling to school, children who travel to school via some mode of public transportation are fitter. This is shown through studies which reveal that public transit users, on average, take 30% more steps per day.

A Question of Responsibility

Children who use public transport to go to school tend to become more independent and responsible at an earlier age than their peers. While public transportation may lead to nervousness among the parents, this quickly disappears as the child learns and demonstrates responsibility.

A Benefit to Society

Apart from the increased car traffic and pollution and all the negatives that go with it, it has been seen that children who use public transit systems to get to school develop a healthy appreciation for public transport facilities.

And they have a greater tendency to use as well as support its use through adulthood. This is especially important to those areas where the public transport system is weak and needs to be strengthened.

Cons of Using Public Transportation

Safety – The Primary Concern

While there are several benefits to public transportation, it cannot be denied that there is one area where private transport trumps it; by a fair way.

And this, in the opinion of many parents, is their single most important concern. This is especially true in difficult neighbourhoods. And while using public transit is certainly safer than walking to school, it doesn’t beat the family car in this respect.

Harassment and Negative Experiences

Closely related to the above mentioned one, avoiding being bullied or harassed – and not having a proper channel to address it is an important factor for parents in choosing not to send their child through public transportation.

Children may also get traumatised by events they are not part of, but simply witness. Given these circumstances, in areas where public transportation is the only option, parents may choose to send their children to a suboptimal school as a result.

Sharing is Caring

The primary reason for preferring private transportation to public transportation is that of safety. Parents often compromise due to the difficulty in taking children to their school amidst their own hectic schedules.

This is true especially when both parents are working. This can be mitigated by carpools, where parents of different children alternate the responsibility of taking them to school.

The Hour Expands

Taking public transportation inevitably means that the child needs to spend more time in transit. From walking to their stop to wait for the bus to the longer routes (that have to be) taken by the bus; and back again while returning home.

This is more prominently seen for high schools, which are generally further away. This is a concern both with respect to time as well as safety.

Discomfort and Overcrowding

Most schools start and end around the same time. So, when a bus comes along, it is possible that it may be overcrowded. And this makes for a negative experience for the child, which they may not be able to handle. This effect is even more prominent while returning home.

Differing Standards

A study indicated that among children between the ages of 9 and 13, only 6% play outside a given week. At a time when parents are overprotective about their children, can we reasonably expect the children to be able to handle themselves in public settings?

With unfamiliar people? In a crowd? And then there’s the question of personality. Do they get anxious? Under difficult circumstances, will they be able to call the parent and communicate with them?

So there you have it. Why you should rely on public transportation for your children’s school travel. And why you shouldn’t. Priorities and personal preferences play a big role. But we hope this will help you make a more considered decision.

Futuristic School Bus Transportation

Posted on December 17, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

Future school buses are the one that combines technological features such as onboard Wi-Fi, telematics, camera, Global Positioning System, driver support tools, etc.

This is a versatile transport solution, which is a typical example of the Internet of Things (IoT) of today, combines security, safety, and network access while on the road.

These facilities accrue as benefits to students, fleet staff, school staff and the parents. Let us see what the benefits of future school bus are and how they are different from normal buses.

1. Bridge the digital gap of the underprivileged

Many American homes which have low income still do not the means to access a hi-speed broadband Internet connection. Many children from low-income households are thus unable to complete their daily homework assignments.

When school buses are equipped with Wi-Fi, it helps these and other students complete their homework while on a long ride back home.

In addition to helping students, parked connected school buses can double up as Wi-Fi hotspots offers internet access to the underprivileged when they are not carrying students. These buses can also find places in the case when schools sponsor programs or organize fundraisers.

The same wireless access as is on the campus is made available in the bus. Therefore the same web filtering rules are on and no dangerous content can be streamed.

A normal bus, on the other hand, does not offer this advantage. Though the fare may be less, other expenses such as Internet access costs through other means and associated costs may compensate for the savings made.

Moreover, the student travelling by a normal bus is denied access to information as compared to other students that travel in next generation school buses and therefore loses out on many related counts.

2. Anywhere learning is possible

A student travelling in the next generation bus is able to access learning management systems while on the road. They are able to chat with their teachers and mentors, check their grades, view their assignments, Moreover, the student can reach out and access Google Classroom to view and download or upload their homework.

This learning for students is not limited to those who attend classes and do the homework. Connected school buses help sports students to catch up with their missed lessons.

The greatest advantage here is that when such students travel on the normal bus they stand a great chance of losing their sleep hours.

A connected bus helps the students to get home and catch up with their sleep or attend to their part-time jobs or pursue other extracurricular activities with ease.

Another interesting example is the instance of Lockheed Martin creating the first ever immersive virtual reality vehicle, meaning it provides the students with a virtual reality experience on the way back home. The Mars Experience Bus was their one such creation.

For bus commutes that last for more than 45 minutes, instructors can present class lessons to the students in a remote fashion instead of extending the school timings. Travel in normal buses would deprive children and the tutors of this facility.

3. Smart video surveillance enhances safety

Untoward incidents that threaten the safety of children travelling to school in normal buses many a time go unnoticed. However, connected buses with smart video surveillance can be used to improve passenger safety and also aids in monitoring the student and driver behavior in real time.

Authorities can watch a live and real-time video that is being recorded in the bus. The surveillance system would monitor both the exterior and interior of the bus. Two-way audio facilities allow the authorities to act fast in case of unexpected emergencies.

A reckless driver can be tamed, both the bus driver and other civilian drivers that drive past the flashing lights of the school bus.

Normal buses’ drivers can travel at the speed they want and there can be no control whatsoever on the unruly behavior of the drivers. The passengers usually bear the brunt of such behavior.

4. Provide timely information to parents

The parents are allowed to have more visibility when their children travel on these school buses. They get information in real time telling them if the bus will be on time or delayed to reach a specified bus stop.

This is a big plus during winter days when the driver has to deal with ice and snow on the roads and suffers freezing temperatures.

GPS helps the system track the buses in real time and alerts authorities if the bus strays from the normally prescribed route or if the bus faces a breakdown.

The exact spot is notified via alerts through integration to social media. The authorities can enable geo-fencing, and even proactively monitor the maintenance of the school bus.

When children travel in normal buses, parents sometimes wait for hours on end at the bus stop and what it means is a colossal waste of resources. Sometimes children wait outside in the cold for hours if the bus is delayed.

5. Relay back maintenance issues in a timely manner

Futuristic school buses have the technology to relay back relevant information about the bus status to the concerned authorities.

Examples of variables that can be conveyed back are fuel economy, tire pressure, and engine fault codes. The authorities can then decide if the engine of the bus is running at its peak performance values.

Preventive maintenance action is made possible with these actions. The ultimate results are that costs are lowered and expulsions of gases that affect the environment negatively are reduced.

A normal bus would just end up breaking down suddenly in a majority of cases. This would mean upset of normal routines and eventually end up in unplanned extra costs.

6. Help to make up the academic shortfall of the country

According to statistics, students in the United States are academically behind students of many other nations. Therefore, it is a good idea to increase students’ access to resources via these buses. This would only serve to increase their intellectual awareness.

7. Improve the behavior of the students

Some students with behavioral issues many a time require a distraction that would keep them calm.

Wi-Fi in a connected bus is an educational distraction that would hold their attention. They would keep away from distraction the other children or even the bus driver.

Those children travelling on a normal bus can give vent to their feelings in any manner that they want to and there is no tether for this.

Conclusion

The true value of this kind of transport solution is the integration of the wireless, telematics, security, camera and other components which turn this into one single powerful platform. The uses are nearly unlimited.

Benefits of Using School Bus Contractor (Reasons Included)

Posted on December 14, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

In many school districts, outsourcing of school transportation to private contractors has been found to be working very well. Control over school bus contractors is maintained by clearly specifying the terms in the agreement.

School administrations that have contracted school transportation to private parties have been able to focus more on their core function which is education.

Read Also : How to Manage School Transport Effectively

There are many reasons as to why school administrations consider arranging contracted transportation for students. They include:

Aging of the fleet being operated by schools and non-availability of funds to upgrade the fleet.
Regulations related to new equipment, safety, and environmental innovations make it necessary to acquire new buses, but it may not be possible for the district to keep changing the fleet rapidly.
Over time, the increase in transportation costs has outpaced funding.
Economies of scale may not be available always and costs may be out of line even for similar districts.
System inefficiencies have often contributed to stretching of resources and difficulties in scheduling.
State, federal, or administrative changes and unexpected extra responsibilities such as redistricting, parental choice rights, and interdistrict magnet school additions, among others, pose challenges to the system.
Administrative headaches such as dealing with parents, drug/alcohol testing, employee absenteeism, and mandated paperwork call for the investment of a great deal of time and attention.

Benefits of Using a School Bus Contractor

Outsourcing of school bus transportation work to private contractors helps to all of the problems listed. Therefore, outsourcing offers several benefits:
The primary focus of private contractors is pupil transportation. It is their main business. They will ensure that the school bus service they provide is efficient and cost-effective.

This is the only way they can benefit from their business. Of course, they have to ensure the highest levels of reliability and safety as they are transporting students to and from school. The expertise of schools is in imparting education, while that of private school bus operators is providing transportation.
Contracting enables schools to avoid issues associated with finding funds for making capital investments.

This is because the contractors are responsible for upgrading or replacing the aging buses with new ones. Further, the contract bus operators are responsible for maintaining the fleet in top operating condition.
Schools can exercise better control over transportation costs and predict the expenses accurately throughout the terms of the contract. This, in turn, protects the wages and benefits of current employees.
Contractors have proven expertise and experience in planning, scheduling, and routing and this helps them to provide efficient service at lower costs. Moreover, they are better equipped to benefit from economies of scale, shared facilities, coordinated services, and dedicated personnel.
Schools can free themselves from management headaches such as driver absenteeism, discipline, drug testing, and statutory compliance, among many others.
Private school bus operators are expected to maintain the safety standards of their fleet and satisfy training requirements of their drivers as stipulated by law. Many schools are able to provide only a minimum amount of training often because of resource constraints.
Schools are under a lot of pressure to ensure competitiveness and achieve economic benefits for their survival. Statistics reveal that contracting the student transportation responsibility to private contractors helps schools save, on average, anywhere from 10 to 30 percent on their expenditure.
Parents are often busy, especially if both of them are employed. They will be very happy if the school bus service being used by their children is reliable, efficient and safe.

It helps them to keep the worry of their children going to and coming back from school on a daily basis. A reliable school bus contractor can be a great help for parents. If the parents are happy and healthy, the students will also be happy and healthy.
Schools that engage experienced, trusted and market-leading private contractors for providing school bus service are actually making it clear to existing and prospective parents that they are committed to delivering first-class and safe student services.
Schools that choose to provide school transport services through contractors are actually contributing to the community's wellbeing by reducing congestion and emissions, improving road safety around schools at the pick-up and drop-off times, and lowering fuel consumption and valuable natural resources.

Final Thoughts

Schools that have engaged private transportation operations have been able to save a lot of money every year. They have utilized the money saved in enhancing their educational programs and prevent teacher layoffs.

7 Advantages of Having a School Bus Routing Software

Posted on December 12, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

The ultimate aim of a school transportation system is to ensure that the students come to school and get back to home in a safe manner. Technology has always helped human beings solve many of their problems since the personal computer revolution in the 1980s.

Advances in the field of wireless communication have also contributed a great deal towards developing solutions to vexing problems. Now, the software may not be able to solve all the problems, but it can definitely help schools in alleviating school bus routing challenges.

Schools can add school bus routing software module to reap a lot of benefits. Here are some of them:

Also Read : How School Bus Routing Software Enhance School Transportation

1. Cost Savings

Modern school bus routing software allows schools to save a significant amount of money across various aspects related to their bus operations. They include the following:

A substantial reduction in route sizes, theoretically to the extent of being in a position to cut an entire vehicle depending on the situation.
A great deal of savings in fuel costs across all of the school’s vehicles.
A shorter route contributes to reducing the wear and tear of the vehicles and extends their lifespan.
The collection and analysis of data at a central point enable school authorities to track and spot trends easily. This, in turn, allows them to sort out small issues such as reduced fuel efficiency. The warning signals help them to tackle the problems and devise solutions before they turn into difficult-to-handle headaches.
The driver tracking capability of the software allows schools authorities to easily identify the best and most cost-conscious drivers.

2. Planning

Another area in which the school bus routing software could make significant contributions is future planning. The integration of school bus routes into the redistricting process was generally being done as an afterthought because of the difficulty in quickly implementing large-scale changes.

Now, the availability of the school bus routing software makes it easier for the schools to manage their transportation changes up front along with the redistricting plan.

Schools can generate number of hypothetical route maps with the help of the software and identify the best routes, in line with redistricting plans, and make optimum routing recommendations in a timely manner to achieve great cost benefits.

The software helps to map the impact of changes in routes and clearly work out the costs involved. This helps the schools to choose the best routes that provide the desired cost benefits.

Similarly, the bus routing software also helps to ease the process of school closings. It has the potential to quickly redistribute the load across the remaining schools and thereby keep the costs incurred at the lowest possible levels.

3. Map Generation

It is not an easy task to draw a school bus route map by hand. Schools and districts that are not moving in tandem with technological change would have to make the concerned staff members to spend a great deal of time during their summer holidays moving strings and pushpins across maps in order to decide the best routes for the upcoming school year.

Moreover, the routes have to be changed during the midst of a semester due to the student movement.

The school bus routing software provides solutions in a matter of minutes, saving authorities months of manual work. All that the authorities have to do is feed database with the addresses of students and their needs and other required information.

The bus routing software will analyze several millions of possible routes within minutes and plot out the most optimum routes. The software can perform this analysis number of times and create hypothetical maps or optimize routes based on the school’s requirements or priorities.

4. Substitute Drivers

The requirement of substitute driver is dependent on the availability of the number of regular drivers. This is because drivers fall sick, go on a vacation, and have to deal with personal issues.

The school bus software’s optimization feature enables authorities to quickly find a substitute driver when one of the regular drivers is absent due to any of the reasons mentioned above. In this situation, the aspects to be considered are whether the driver has a license, knowledge of the routes, and experience in driving in those routes.

5. School Calendars

Timings, sessions, and holidays vary from one school to another. For example, the timings of public and private schools are not the same.

School bus routing software integrated with school calendars will be of great help in determining the best routes for specific days when only the public or schools is closed or working.

Some advantages of using the routing software in this respect would be as follows:

Identifies alternative routes depending on whether the private or public schools are working or closed.
Drivers will be informed of the routes well in advance.
Alerts can be sent to students and their parents to notify the changes instantaneously.

6. Real-time Weather Alerts

When changes in weather conditions causes damages to roads and make travelling on those roads risky, the software determines alternate routes so that students can be transported safely to and from the school.

The best part is that the software allows alerts regarding a change in route to be sent in real time, making things easy for students and their parents.

7. Driver License

School bus drivers are expected to keep their licenses valid all the time. The school bus routing software provides alerts when renewal is due for each driver as applicable. This enables authorities to avoid issues related to non-availability of drivers because of the expiry of their license validity.

Further, the software also enables driver background checks including criminal activities and child abuse, among others. Finally, the software can also be employed for implementing preventive and scheduled bus maintenance procedures so that it is possible to ensure that the buses are in good running condition.

Conclusion

This is not an exhaustive list of advantages that school bus routing software can provide. There are many other indirect benefits as well.

All said and done, the routing software is an invaluable tool for district and school administration authorities as it enables to improve operational efficiency and send customized alerts to students, and more importantly to parents so that they can safely and confidently go to and come back from their schools.

Top 5 School Bus Accident Causes

Posted on December 10, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

School buses are treated with respect and consideration everywhere.

This respect is owed to the children who are the passengers of these buses.

Despite the traffic regulations and precautions are taken, the school buses sometimes met with accidents.

The rate of accidents is fairly low as compared to other traffic accidents.

But when it happens, normally it points towards the fault of driver and vehicle.

Here are 5 causes of school bus accidents.

Read Also

How to Deal With School Bus Accident

1. Driver Distraction

The main distraction for the driver occurs within the bus.

The misbehavior of students on the bus can take away the driver’s attention from the road.

Students tend to be very loud and noisy.

At times, they fight and assault each other.

These types of student behaviours distracts driver while driving which might lead to accidents.

Availability of an attendant or teacher on the bus to discipline the students can help driver to a large extent.

Mobile phones are another major distraction.

Though talking on the phone while driving is a punishable offence, many drivers still use their phones.

A call may divert a driver’s attention from the road which can lead to an accident.

But if any emergency call such as call from school authorities or parents, then it would be appropriate to use the phone after the vehicle is parked aside safely.

Drivers are often seen adjusting their viewing mirrors, adjusting their seating position, etc., while on the road.

These should have been well looked into before starting the trip.

They reach out for fallen objects; even eat, drink and smoke while driving, all of which can distract their mind.

One another factor that affects driver concentration is the loud audio/video music played inside the buses.

In school buses, it is not advisable to use music systems.

Factors of distraction outside the vehicle include the disorganized traffic in urban areas, the lack of space to manoeuvre the big vehicle, lack of proper pedestrian crossings, construction sites, accidents on the route, etc.

All these divert the attention of the driver from his task of driving safely.

Bad weather conditions like heavy rain, snow or sleet also make driving difficult, especially when it is required to stop quickly and safely.

2. Driver Fatigue

Driver fatigue automatically results in negligence causing accidents, sometimes tragic.

It is not really possible to monitor whether a driver had a restful sleep or gauge his state of alertness or awareness.

There exist devices to measure a driver’s eye closure rate.

The device triggers an alarm when it observes an unfamiliar pattern.

The prohibitive cost and scarce availability of such devices make it an impractical solution.

A tired driver is incapable of checking blind spots.

He fails to observe the rules of the road.

The bad road conditions too can affect his driving.

Read Also

Great School Bus Drivers- A Schort Guide

Getting around potholes and construction sites on his daily pickup route can be mentally exasperating.

Fatigue is also caused when the driver is under the influence of illegal substances, alcohol and even prescribed drugs.

Small quantities of each reduce the level of concentration in a person thus decreasing the reaction times.

Larger quantities often result in blurred vision too.

This impairs proper vehicle operation.

The main onus of being vigilant rests on the bus driver as he is solely responsible for the safety of the students on his bus

3. Over Speeding

Over-speeding, as we all know, can cause disasters.

A school bus driver operates on a time constraint.

Delay in picking up students and traffic snarls causes the driver to speed and keep up the time schedule.

The driver’s power of judgment gets impaired at high speeds making accidents inevitable.

School buses, these days, are fitted with speed governors which limit fuel when the vehicle reaches a predetermined speed level.

This is highly essential as it is a deterrent to over-speeding and aggressive driving.

Many cases of reckless driving and road rage end up with disastrous results.

Read Also

Driver Behaviours that Cause School Bus Road Accidents

Aggressive driving can be curtailed by imparting adequate training to drivers inculcating in them the necessity for safety and instilling a sense of responsibility.

It would be wise to employ drivers in their middle age with more years of experience and maturity which might often be missing in young fresh drivers.

Accidents due to animals and pedestrians crossing roads can be avoided if the buses travel within a safe speed limit.

4. Condition of the Vehicle

It is imperative that the school buses are in perfect running condition at all times.

Regular maintenance is essential to ensure safe day-to-day operations.

More so because the schools resort to buy second-hand or used buses as they find it more economically viable.

Ageing of buses and faulty equipment are a cause for concern.

Lapses in maintenance often lead to the breakdown of the vehicle.

Commonly accidents are caused because of faulty brake systems or worn out treads on tires.

Ignoring defects and repairing with used/second-hand parts increases the risk of failures.

Hence it is essential to do a daily routine check of brakes, accelerator, oil pressure, tire pressure, lights, and all other factors to ensure the vehicle’s roadworthiness.

In addition to these, the latch systems for the windows and door have to be checked for proper and smooth operation.

Emergency exits have to be easily accessible.

5. Passenger Over-Crowding

Over-crowding in school buses is very common.

School authorities try to optimize their bus routes to save time and fuel.

The passengers in a bus should not be according to the seating capacity of the particular bus.

Overloading affects the stability of the vehicle.

Read Also

10 Essential Facts on Road Safety

The adherence to safety regulations becomes impossible with a large number of students on board.

For example, the number of seat belts provided will be not sufficient in an overcrowded bus.

Students standing in the bus hamper the view of the driver.

If the driver applies the brake suddenly, the children are thrown against each other causing injuries.

An overcrowded bus with no safety precautions is a strain on the driver.

In addition to these, one of the common causes of accidents is other careless drivers on the road.

The school bus driver can keep a safe distance from the vehicle ahead and travel at speeds that would cause minimum damage if any accident occurs.

In short, the driver should ensure that he/she drives defensively and mindfully rather than mindlessly.

In spite of all these aspects, school buses are still considered to be the safest means of transportation for a student to and from school.

5 Features of AI Integrated School Bus Software

Posted on December 3, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

There have been many traffic accidents involving school buses. Thousands of children are rushed into the accident every year. Parents are worried till their wards reach home via school bus. And worst of all, the roads are not safe.

Though it is a well-known fact that technology can help to cut down most of the road mishaps, a majority of schools keep away from bringing the latest technology into plying their school bus fleets in an orderly fashion.

Nowadays, there are a number of school-bus software packages that incorporate AI into their programs with a view to making applications work in real time and simplify frustrating tasks.

Read on to know more about some of the distinctive features of AI integrated school bus software.

1: Auto Routing

The AI functionality of the software helps to gather information about the school bus routes, pick up and drop points, the vehicles used, seating capacities of the buses, and the students’ details (those plying on the different trips).

The system will then design the most optimized route automatically. This is a very time-consuming and frustrating task if done manually.

2: Auto Allocation

It is important for the school to allocate buses and vans of the right capacities to make trips on the various routes to function within their allocated budgets.

Without AI , this work is laborious and almost always turns out to be inefficient at the end. The time spent on the work also becomes non-productive.

The auto allocation option in any school bus tracking software is likely to have the following features:

From the student database, the system will assign the pickup location of the student depending on the home address. There is no need for a GPS location for this function to execute.
All auto-routing jobs are done by the software and any issues arising thereof are tackled by the package itself.
The assignments of the different vehicles and allocation of pickup points are designated depending on the home addresses of the pupils.

The vehicle sizes and capacities according to the students from each route are automatically chosen. This feature gets the job done automatically in a few minutes saving time.
After allocation, pick-up points are displayed on the Google maps. These pickup points are optimized automatically depending on the data stored in the system.
Report printouts are possible at any time. These can be maintained as references for the current routes that are allocated.

3: Auto Optimization

Auto-optimization is yet another feature of artificial integrated school bus software. This software essentially consists of the route and pickup optimization modules. The optimization is always based on the start and endpoint of trip.

When a new unplanned route is picked up by the transport manager, the AI derived functionality of the school bus software easily sets it up. The routes are created instantaneously and new bus stops are allotted and pick up points facilitated in an optimized fashion in every single route.

The most efficient route spanning the new area to be covered is delivered by the system. Other aspects that are enabled by the artificial intelligence factor are the reduction in running time of the vehicle, optimum fuel usage and reduction of work and effort of the transport manager and the driver.

In case if any student’s pick-up point is relocated instantly, then it can be updated in the system easily at the same time.

The pickup points in a specific route are continuously monitored and the package also suggests the best road, keeping in view the ultimate aim to reduce running time, distance and also avoid roads with high amounts of traffic.

All these features at the end pay off durability increases and reduce wear and tear of the vehicle as it covers only the required distance and does not run for more time than required.

4: Least amount of configuration efforts

A majority of AI integrated school bus software that provides the above functions follow intelligent algorithms that have been coded into the programs.

The end result is that there is a need only for very basic configuration in setting up the program and running it afterwards. Most of the programs are coded so that they can think for themselves (like explained above) and act accordingly in case of unexpected situations and changes.

5: Easy to install and use

A majority of the AI integrated school bus tracking software are built with an easy-to-use interface. This makes it possible for any individual to install it and maintain it as well.

Moreover, there would be support from the creators of the software package. These days the packages are made very responsive, meaning they can function with the same attributes in any device that they are loaded in: PC, tab or even a mobile device.

Conclusion

AI integrated school bus software are made using intelligent algorithms that ensure that many of the jobs like bus routing and allocation do not need human intervention, unlike the earlier times. All these intelligent monitoring systems make the system more powerful and yet economical to load and run.

How to Deal With School Bus Accident

Posted on November 30, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

School bus accidents do happen at times and they can happen anytime and anywhere.

In fact, hundreds of accidents are reported every year.

Statistically, school buses are safer than most of the other vehicles that ply on the road.

But still, school buses can meet with accidents which is daunting as children are involved.

Read Also

20 Must-know School Bus Safety Tips for School Bus Drivers

If you are a parent, you would like to know exactly what you should do if your child’s school bus met with an accident.

Read on to know more as to how you could deal with it.

School Bus Accidents – Types

Typically, parents imagine a collision when they came to know that their child’s school bus met with an accident during the journey.

Actually, collisions do happen, but other types of accidents also cause injuries to children.

These include the following:

• Falling while entering or alighting the bus

• Tripping and falling while on the bus

• Slipping and falling in the aisle (wet floors)

• A child’s backpack or clothes might get caught on the bus and he/she might be dragged as the bus is driven off

The first and foremost thing you should do is to know the details about the accident as soon as possible.

It is not wise to rely too much on the school to update you as what actually happened as they might squarely be responsible for the cause of accident.

Read Also

How to Avoid School Bus Accidents

What Should You Do

If your child gets involved in an accident while travelling by the school bus, it is not easy to find out what actually happened if you were not there when the accident happened.

Therefore, it is crucial to take the following steps:

•First of all, ensure that your child is given medical attention immediately.

This is because their well-being is your top most priority.

•Document everything regarding the accident as quickly as you can.

It will be a good idea if you talk to other parents as well and write down all the details.

•Take photos of at least your child’s injuries if not possible to take pictures of the accident scene.

In case your child’s school bus accident case goes to trial, his/her injuries would have most likely healed by then.

This means you will not have any visual proof to provide.

• The next step is to contact a lawyer experienced in handling bus accident cases.

Strict deadlines have to be adhered to when you file a claim for personal injury compensation.

An attorney who is experienced in handling bus accident cases knows exactly what is to be done and when it has to be done.

15 Duties and Responsibilities of School Transport Manager

Posted on November 28, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

The school transport manager primarily oversees the fleet of buses that transport the students to and from the school.

The manager plays a crucial role in the overall planning and management of the bus routes, scheduling, vehicle maintenance and acquisition and much more.

This position requires the candidate to have the capability to organize, possess leadership skills, and maintain good relationships with others.

In total, the transport manager along with assistants have to ensure safe, effective, responsive and efficient transport service to the staff and the students.

We shall, in this article, discuss the duties and responsibilities to be taken on by the transport manager of a school bus fleet.

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Duties and Responsibilities of the Transport Manager

1. The transport manager is responsible for the transportation of school and sees that the day-to-day operations are going on without any problems.

For this, the transport manager has to monitor the operations and assure efficient performance in compliance with the regulations and according to the policies, guideline and procedures that are laid down.

2. The transport manager is expected to resolve all the challenges arises in the transport department.

They are supposed to handle different aspects of bus maintenance issues and emergencies if any.

3. In addition to performing road checks during inclement weather, the transport manager holds the complete responsibility of overseeing the timely maintenance checks of all the buses.

The manager is also responsible for maintaining complete records of all the maintenance that have taken place on every bus.

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The manager facilitates staff meetings in this connection and also provides direction to the bus maintenance staff.

The transport manager is in charge of inspecting the buses frequently to ensure that all the buses are in tip-top condition and safe enough to transport the students to and from the school.

4. The transport manager is in charge of setting the routes for the buses, dispatch of the buses, working out their schedule, and managing the driver.

They are also incharge of managing other members of the transport department such as staff representatives from the school, manage fuel consumption of the buses, and also development of the bus timetable.

All these are done keeping in mind the child safety that is being transported on the bus.

5. The transport manager shall coordinate with the specific district representative for the transportation of student with special needs.

He is also responsible to prepare and submit all the related reports in a timely manner.

6. The transport manager is responsible for the purchase of any equipment for the school bus fleet in compliance with all the existing policies and procedures.

7. The transport manager is responsible for the conduct and behaviour of the bus drivers and attendants.

In this connection, he is responsible for the recruitment of the said personnel.

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So, He must be very careful while appointing candidates for the positions of driver and bus attendants.

He should only appoint them after screening their applications thoroughly and checking their credentials and backgrounds.

The transport manager is in charge of training programs and safety programs for the bus staff.

He conducts the bus driver performance evaluations in a timely manner.

He trains the staff on how to communicate effectively so that they can voice their concerns and opinions appropriately.

He is in charge of developing and maintaining the training manual with all the records complete.

He must also ensure that they are promoted to higher positions at the right times and that they are compensated according to their position.

He is in charge of tackling any unrest that may arise in the department.

8. The transport manager maintains a positive relationship with parents, students and the staff members of the school.

He coordinates and strives to resolve all the concerns that crop up.

The responsibilities of the transport manager include keeping the parents informed of any route change, schedule change or timing change of the bus trip.

He should also keep them informed in case there is a new person that has assumed the role of the driver or bus attendant.

9. The role of a transport manager becomes a prominent one in times of a crisis such as an accident or emergency (such as a breakdown).

In such a case his action should be immediate so that there is no harm (or only a minimal loss) and every child reaches their home safe and sound.

The transport manager is expected to have the contact details of all the vehicles repair services of the area as well as those of doctors, nursing homes and hospitals.

10. The transport manager is in charge of coordinating with all the transport staff and the government authorities to keep the bus feet in a ready state for the annual state inspection of the vehicle fleet.

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11. The Transport manager shall plan and execute the purchase of spare buses as additions to the existing fleet.

This help in handling the situation when the necessity of school bus arises.

12. The transport manager shall assist the school authorities in the development of operating procedures.

These include policies, upgrading the existing systems and their implementation and staffing changes at the departmental level.

13. The transport manager is expected to maintain safety standards in compliance with regulations for insurance requirements.

A preventative safety program has to be developed by the manager.

All insurance reports have to be completed and submitted to the authorities by the transport manager.

14. The transport manager is responsible to conduct mock evacuation and emergency drills in a timely manner.

15. It is the responsibility of the transport manager to submit a variety of reports in a timely fashion to the school authorities and government departments in compliance with policies and procedures.

All expenditures must be properly recorded allocated and accounted for.

Complaints and concerns should be recorded and all the related follow-up correspondence should be copied, saved and stored appropriately.

Conclusion

The transport manager is expected to be a person with a positive attitude with a professional approach in tackling the various issues of the transportation department.

Ultimately, the service to the children should be of paramount importance.

10 Interesting Features of Excursion Management Software

Posted on November 26, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

School excursions are fun, but to organize one is a challenging task.

Managing children during a school excursion is not easy either.

However, school excursion software can make things much easier for schools.

The software enables the transportation manager to form a students’ team and schedule an excursion with the start and end points.

And also designate a contact person, assign driver and assistant, and allocate a vehicle for the trip.

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For additional safety, smart bands can also be employed.

The software also makes carrying paperwork everywhere redundant.

However, the best school excursion management software will have the following interesting features:

1. Student Safety

The excursion management software is very helpful in not only ensuring but also in managing the safety of the students on an excursion trip.

Student safety is dealt with by giving staff members instant access to certain things such as student medical conditions, personalized care instructions, etc.

And also provides access to emergency contacts even when there is no connectivity or the mobile devices are offline.

All that the schools have to do is train their staff on what they are supposed to do in an emergency.

2. Management of Transportation

There is a module incorporated into the excursion management software helping schools to plan routes in an efficient manner.

The software helps in the management of trips with a focus on student safety.

The vehicle and driver details, including the exact location of the school bus, are tracked to improve safety.

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3. Data Safety and Security

Medical records of students contain their personal information.

As in paper forms, there is a chance of getting lost, stolen, read by someone, or photographed.

Access can be restricted, ensuring the utmost security and safety of data, when school excursion software is used.

Only specified staff members get instant access through password, fingerprint, or code to comprehensive student records, including medical records, and their access can be cut off on completion of the event.

This is because data automatically expires after the excursion so as to keep the information secure.

Even when authorized staff access information, they are tracked.

Therefore, it is easier, more secure, and more practical in all respects.

4. Unplanned or Unexpected Trips

Sometimes, the need to take a child or children to a nearby place either for educational purposes or any medical emergency.

In such kind of situations, the staff members need not to have panic at all.

A unique feature of the school excursion management software called “Instant Trip” can be made use of to handle all unplanned or unexpected trips.

5. Student Attendance Management

Keeping track of the students as the excursion progresses is a challenging task, especially when it has to be done manually.

The excursion management software leverages the mobile technology to ensure 100 percent accurate attendance marking.

The mobile linked excursion student attendance module enables staff to mark off their presence at several checkpoints throughout the excursion (for example, on the bus, at the bus stops, etc.).

6. Smart Wristbands

In some situations, there might be a need for additional safety when taking school children on an excursion.

The school excursion management software comes with a provision for that too- smart watch technology.

This is integrated into the student attendance management module ensuring additional safety for the children.

7. Parent App

This is one of the unique features of the school excursion management software.

It is linked with the parent app.

This enables the school to keep the parents in the loop and provide them with relevant information in real time.

8. Auto Routing

This is another interesting feature of the excursion management software.

It makes navigation easy.

The auto-routing module works on the basis of the start point or the source and the endpoint or the destination.

The auto-routing feature helps to reduce the running time of the vehicle, fuel usage, efforts of the transport manager and driver, and saves fuel, among other things.

It makes use of the algorithm ‘Smart Routing’ to find solutions automatically.

9. Smart Notifications

The Smart Notifications feature is helpful in many ways and mainly in case of emergencies.

This features school administrators and authorized teachers or staff members to send messages or notify all concerned profiles instantaneously about an emergency situation or changes in plans.

This is normally a helpful feature when school children are taken out on an excursion.

The fact that if the school is using excursion management software, then it provides a great deal of confidence in parents.

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10. Geofencing

A geofence refers to a perimeter or a virtual fence around a physical location.

The school excursion management software employs this technology to keep track of students during excursions and manage proximity risk.

This technique does not make use of satellite communication to find the coordinates of the student(s) that has gone astray.

Instead, it keeps checking whether the students in a group are staying close to one another.

The proximity risk management program works by creating a beacon.

Typically, the instructor or the teacher accompanying the students is defined as the beacon.

A random student could also be made a beacon.

The software keeps checking whether each student in the group is close to their beacon or not.

An alarm is initiated or an alert message is sent if a student moves out of the geofence.

5 Top School Bus Tracking Software Providers Every Parent Must Know

Posted on November 23, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

Child safety and security is a major cause of anxiety for parents in these times.

Parents start worrying as soon as the child leaves home for school.

Whether the bus was on time, did their ward board the bus, did the child reach the school safely, and when the student was dropped back are matters of daily concern. This can be solved with school bus tracking software.

The school authorities are responsible for the child safety to and from schools.

It is definitely a daunting task with increasing numbers of students, buses and routes.

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The degree of alertness and follow up by personnel at different levels vary, often leading to lapses in the process.

Now technology is helping out in this matter to a great extent.

There are many software applications designed to ease daily activities in almost all spheres of life.

In the school scenario, the most relevant and important one seems to be a specialized tracking system for school buses.

Most software packages have a web-based app for the school authorities and a mobile app for parents, drivers and students.

Now here we are showcasing 5 top school bus tracking software providers

1: TrackSchoolBus

This is an excellent software platform designed for all associated with the child – parents, school administration, drivers and transport managers.

With this, concerned people can track attendance of the location of bus, and pick up and drop off timings.

Parents have the option to change the pick-up and drop off points for their ward(s) with intimations to the driver and school.

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The parent can also apply for leave if the child is sick through this app.

Both the driver and administration are informed. The route can be changed if necessary for drivers to reduce running time.

The school authorities have access to details regarding the driver, route, time spent on the road, list of students present on the bus thus enabling them to put their fleet to optimal use.

Transport managers can plan routes and trips, track every bus and communicate with drivers.

Accidents and traffic congestions along the routes can be viewed and conveyed to both parents and drivers.

With this, transport managers do not have to perform school bus routing, optimization and allocation manually because the system does it automatically as our system is AI in-built.

2: BusWhere

Considered very easy to use and a reliable for parents, the app tells us ‘where’ the bus is located currently.

The bus routes can be viewed on an interactive map.

Parents are notified when the bus is going to reach the stop. They get a minute by minute update on expected arrival time.

It tracks the location of the different buses on the specified routes, the time of arrival and departure from each stop, deviation in route due to traffic delays, expected arrival time at each of the designated stops.

This is of immense help to school administrators.

They have an easy access to information of the buses in their fleet mainly the routes, present location, speed and fuel levels.

With this, if any delay in school bus timing, parents can be notified via messages.

An additional feature of this is that the previous history of the bus can be obtained.

Details thus logged can be downloaded for further analysis too.

3: School Bus Tracker

School bus tracker offers real-time location of buses to both parents and school authorities.

Location of the buses, time of arrival and departure and route changes are monitored.

If any delay, direct messages are sent to parents and the information is also relayed to school authorities.

With this, parents can request for route change.

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The driver can also be notified directly by the parent if the child is sick.

This enables him to change the route accordingly.

Though widely used, this does not monitor the child’s attendance on and off the bus as it does not have RFID.

4: Here comes the bus

Being a bus location sharing platform, it provides the parents and school administration with the exact location of the bus.

The parents can view the scheduled and actual time of student arrival at both home and school.

In case where the bus is delayed, email alerts are sent to parents.

This is a device to track whether the student got on and off the bus.

It will indicate the bus-stop too. ID cards are scanned by students while boarding and exiting the bus. This will provide details of student attendance.

In conjunction with the GPS device, the location is pinpointed and the school as well as the parents is notified if students have alighted at the wrong stop.

5: Applane Real-Time Bus Tracking System

This system is a powerful software for parents to track their child’s bus route, location and timings of departure and arrival.

It offers an option wherein the child can be dropped to the next bus stop in case they fail to drop the child off at the usual one.

Parents are notified of route changes due to delays. They are also informed of any emergency situations or breakdowns.

RFID integration helps in monitoring attendance. An additional feature is the CCTV installed which keeps an eye on both students and drivers.

Unlike others, this can be accessed on mobile devices by the school authorities making it possible to manage their entire fleet anywhere anytime.

Conclusion

These software applications make the school bus fleet management an easy task.

Managed well within the parameters of privacy and security terms, this can be a boon to all.

Both the parents and school authorities can stay updated about the whereabouts of their wards. These providers help to enhance child safety.