Category: School Transport Provider

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

Posted on 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 TrackSchoolBus System Allocates School Bus Routes

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

It will not be an overstatement to quote that technology has become a torchbearer offering a host of convenient features, simplifying the lives of its users. A couple of such technological innovations that deserve a special mention are the school bus tracking system offered by TrackSchoolBus.

Aiming to not only offer transparency with every school bus ride, this system and the tracking apps integrated with it bestow a great deal of convenience to all the stakeholders; school bus drivers, school van operators and parents included.

It is through these tracking apps helps school administrators to ensure that they are plying their vehicles according to the desired capacity levels for every bus route.

This blog sheds light on numerous ways in which TrackSchoolBus System helps in auto allocating school bus routes.

  1. The Smart Allocation Algorithm of TrackSchoolBus Tracking System

If you look into all the ways in which the TrackSchoolBus System lends a helping hand to school bus operators, you will be convinced that it is indeed a smart means to operate school buses and routes in complete control.

If you are a trasnport manager, then you can rely on this facility to plan school bus routes within minutes, in line with the number of pick-up points and their respective densities. That means, every school bus route is allotted in line with the capacity and pick-up point requirements.

  1. Historical Data – The Primary Source of Information

Looking into the parents’ registration forms, school bus operators, with the help of Parent App integrated with TrackSchoolBus System will be in a strong position to assign pick-up according to the residential addresses of respective students.

Allowing you to conduct the auto routing procedures, it helps you to alter route in the event of a sudden relocation.

You will be able to take the help of Google Maps to identify the exact pick-up location of every student; residential address of the student.

6 School Bus Auto Routing Features from TrackSchoolBus
  1. Unleash the Power of Control Through Automation

The power of automation can never be undermined, especially concerning the matters of control and efficiency. This is a fact that goes well with the TrackSchoolBus System that it automatically assists you to create vehicle assignments and school bus routes.

Banking on the trip and address details of every student, the TrackSchoolBus System handholds all school transport managers to exercise complete control over every school bus route. In the event of a sudden relocation, the system through its smart notifications via app shows the changed pick-up points.

The app comes with a printout facility that can provide pertinent handouts. These printouts can be used as reference points for the existing school bus transportation system.

What’s In Store for You?

You can avail free auto allocation trails that can be availed by schools which have subscribed or are planning to subscribe to the TrackSchoolBus System.

Tagged is a centralized and user-friendly interface, the TrackSchoolBus System is independent of any sort of hardware specifications. Offering you a host of unique value-added features, it is through this system that you can enjoy the flexibility of quoting for the facilities according to your needs.

To top it all, you have the additional benefit coming in the form of affordability. That means, with the reasonably-priced TrackSchoolBus System you will be in a position to operate your school bus fleet in the most efficient manner.

And once you become a TrackSchoolBus System subscriber, you can make the most of the advanced auto allocation feature and more.

10 Simple but Important Things About School Bus Tracking

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

School Bus Tracking helps to improve student safety and build a better and secure relationship between parents and schools. This is a most efficient way to keep track of students’ security.

Each school might have proper arrangement for bus service or have bus companies for providing such services. They are responsible for taking entire responsibility of the kid’s safety along with ensuring that they keep updating the parents about any delays or urgent needs.

Let us see the important things about a proper school bus tracking system:

1. The tracking system for school buses can help in improving the safety measures as a result of which parents, teachers and even bus management people can work at ease.  

This tracking helps to monitor the bus services in real and can also help parents to know about their time of arrival. This can reduce a lot of tension between parents and teachers. This effective procedure should be implemented as much as possible.

2. Bus tracking service such as GPS can help parents to keep an eye on the behaviour of the bus management team. At the same time, it also helps in knowing whether their kids are safe in harsh weather conditions or any incidental cause.

Having proper tracking system can help in improving the management system as managers would be informed about any urgent breakdown or be notified of any maintenance need.

This can in turn help in reducing costly breakdowns. When buses need maintenance then managers are responsible for scheduling replacement of buses.

3. Apart from this a bus tracking system can help to keep a close eye on the driver and check if they are following rules and regulations such as speed limits and scheduled routes.

Managers may also take note of the driving patterns such as hard braking or lingering around unnecessarily. This shall not only help in reducing the cost but also assure safety of children travelling in bus.

4. By following the tracking system, parents and teachers can get to know more about the arrival and departure time of the Bus. It shall be easy to generate effective schedule management for students. As per the details, parents and teachers can decide about their timings and proper schedule management.

Moreover, if there is any problem, for instance if the bus arrives late or there is a sudden breakdown then it might really get difficult. Students might have to keep waiting for their bus while at the same time it is also irritating for parents to keep waiting.

However, if there is a proper tracking system then it gets easier to deal with these things. The school bus tracking system can help in dealing with the bus management system and collaborate with your own dealings and schedules.

5. When parents let their children to go by bus, they completely trust the driver and other management officials involved here. Parents are often worried about their children to ensure that their child is protected and in complete safe hands.

Just as an additional precautionary measure by having a tracking system can give great peace of mind to the parents.

6. With the tracking system it will be easier to track the buses live and are notified about any emergency. Even automatic updates can save parents from calling again and again.

This shall help the management team to look after the kids. The live tracking system shall be updated with more reliable timings. So there would be no worries about delays.

7. Most schools face issues regarding their budget. However, a tracking system can help in reducing a lot of wastage of money. It helps in improving the route efficiency which in turn can reduce the fuel costs.

Other than this it becomes easy to monitor vehicle performance and reduce the maintenance cost.

8. School bus tracking offers better safety for drivers as the tracking system is not only helpful for children but also for the drivers. One can easily keep track of the drivers’ accountability, their whereabouts, and behaviour.

It can be easy to monitor reckless speed or improper behaviour of the driver. The perfect implementation of a tracking system can help to reduce the risk of students being exposed to any problem.

9. Tracking system makes the collection of data easy. This helps in proper collection and storage of data. Though tracking a vehicle isn’t that easy as it might seem be. However, with the right arrangement of various factors such as mileage and other things can be taken care of.

Moreover, the data is collected automatically via bus tracking software. There is no longer any need to rely on manual data handling or generating process as now it shall become easy to deal with these. The data recorded can further be used to prepare log books.

Having proper accuracy they can be used at the end of month for generating payments. Their performance can easily be taken care by collecting these data. One needs to simply print the data and go through it properly.

10. Those schools which haven’t come up with any bus tracking system yet should consider all the benefits involved in having a proper tracking system. This shall not only help in improving the school business but also gain a level of trust on the school. This shall be the best way to improve brand awareness and improve safety measures in schools for their own children.

Final Thoughts

In short, School Bus Tracking made easier for you to keep the track records of the security of your kids. Whatever is the case, a school bus tracking system will surely help in enhancing the overall performance of school.

This will help to improve the overall system and can provide safety benefits to school management, parents and children.  As safety is very important for your children so if you are getting any safe opportunity for your child then never miss it.

9 Things to Avoid In School Bus Transportation Services

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

School bus transportation services offer the safest mode of transport for getting kids to and from their schools. They offer about 50 times more safety for kids to and from schools than other mode of transportation.

Additionally, kids have a much safer travel in a school bus than being taken by their parents in the personal vehicles.

As school buses are one among the safest means for kids to and from school, there are many superior reasons that make them a rising option amid parents for the school commute of their children.

However, to make the school bus safe, kids availing the school bus transportation services are supposed to avoid some factors. Here are 9 vital things to avoid while availing such services to ensure the maximum safety of kids boarding the bus.

1. Bus stop rushing

School-going kids should not all rush to their bus stop if they are late. Late kids are inclined to run to their bus stop or chase their school bus if it has already gone past their bus stop.

This can be very hazardous if they run across a highway and overlook to pay their attention to traffic. Kids should always come to their bus stop at least five minutes before the arrival of their school bus. This may greatly aid them to avoid the morning panic.

2. Clothing

Kids should avoid wearing loose straps or hanging drawstrings clothes as it can be a risk on a school bus. Unruly straps and drawstrings can be trapped in the doors and handrails of their school bus.

They can become lodged in or wrapped around a seat, as well. This will stop the kids from exiting their school bus quickly during an emergency.

3. Waiting for bus

It is safe for school-going children by avoiding standing near to the curb while they are waiting for their bus. Usually, kids have a much higher possibility of being wounded in a zone where the loading and unloading of school students is being carried out, than within the bus itself.

School administrators and students should advise their kids to stand at a minimum distance of six feet away from the curb while they are waiting at their bus stop.

4. Bus front

School students should not walk very close to the front part of bus while boarding it. This is because while strolling in front of their school bus, there is a chance for a mishap with the bus if the driver accidentally releases the brake of the bus.

Therefore, kids should be appropriately instructed to stand at a minimum distance of 10 feet ahead of their bus prior to crossing the road every time.

5. Road crossing

Students should not cross the road without checking the traffic on both of their sides. This means that they have to check the traffic on their left as well as on their right side while crossing the street. 

Furthermore, it is the personal responsibility of the school bus driver to stop the bus from where the kids and the driver should be able to see each.  While crossing before the school bus, children should first see the driver.

This will make sure that both the driver as well as the kids can perceive each other.

6. Picking up the dropped things

Kids should avoid picking up things by themselves that they have dropped their items while boarding and unboarding school bus.

Parents should suitably instruct their kids not to attempt and repossess their things that they have dropped near or under their school bus on their own.

This could be unsafe for the reason that they will be out of the sight of driver. Asking the driver to pick up the dropped things will ensure the maximum safety of the kids boarding bus.

7. Boarding the bus

Kids are supposed to avoid boarding their school bus too hastily. Parents should advise their kids to remain patient while they are boarding their school bus. They should make their kids understand that entering the bus is not a competition or a race to grab their seats.

Kids should stand one behind the other in a line away from the road at their bus stop before boarding their school bus. Moreover, they should avoid entering the bus before it stops completely.

Then, they can start boarding the bus after the doors are opened. They can then start entering the bus after getting the green signal from the bus attendant to board the bus.

8. Safe seating in the bus

Traveling kids should not put their body parts outside the window of school bus. Even though it may offer some sort of enjoyment to kids, they should stay away from hanging their body parts out of the window as it can led to serious wounds.

Therefore, children who are school bus commuters should not at all put their arms, heads, or hands out of the bus window.

9. Emergency exit

By no means, kids should play with the emergency exit in their school bus. Grown-up kids will usually sit in the back seats of their bus. Although the emergency exit door may intrigue them, they should not at all touch the door or try to open it.

On no account, they should obstruct the door with their backpacks or bags, as well.  During the time of an emergency, students are supposed to listen to the instructions of the driver carefully about the use of the emergency exit.

8 Common Mistakes Everyone Makes In School Bus Transportation Software

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

The school bus transportation software plays a significant role in allowing school districts to enhance the transportation safety of school students. These software solutions are now the most sought-after option amid many modern-day schools.

Moreover, they aid school administrators considerably in school bus scheduling as well as routing in an effective and convenient way.

Thus, the school transportation management will be capable of scheduling the fastest as well as shortest school bus routes to make their everyday operation quicker and more affordable.

The school bus transportation softwre can assign bus stops, as well, which will help schools in choosing the pick-up stops for the staff and students, consistent with their focus on the areas.

However, some schools are not aware on how to choose the right software for their school transportation department. This makes them choose the app with some common mistakes, thus  have to use the one with less benefits.

Here are the eight common mistakes every school makes while choosing the school bus transportation application.

1. Child Reminder Alarms

One of the most common mistakes everyone does while choosing a school bus transportation software is failing to verify the Child Reminder Alarm.

The main purpose of alarm is to alert both school bus attendants as well as drivers about the kids who are still on the bus even after the trip is completed. Thereby, ensuring better safety to the kids as well as to the schools.

2. Performance Improvements

When comes to safety, school buses are an admired solution for student transportation. Therefore, these buses are supposed to offer better performance and safety to the school students boarding them.

This means that school districts are supposed to upgrade the performance as well as the safety features of their buses to make children feel comfortable and offer the peace of mind to their parents. This can be achieved only by verifying the beneficial features of school bus transportation software while choosing one.

3. GPS

One of the major purposes of using the school bus transportation app is to track the school bus and their occupants in a real time. This can be done only through the GPS or Global Positioning System.

It is vital for schools to verify whether the software comes with the most powerful and latest version of GPS. If not, either parents or schools can come across many problems in tracking the school buses.

4. Notifications

Although all school bus tracking apps come with notifications features, it is important for every school to check that the software should come equipped with as many notification features as possible.

There are several reasons when school buses gets delayed to reach the bus stops  such as traffic jam, closure of roads on a particular route, breakdown of buses, etc.

During these situations if the software does not come with the appropriate notification feature, both the school administrators, as well as the parents could not be notified in time.

Thus, school districts are supposed to know the announcement features before choosing an application.

5. Live Map

While selecting transportation software, some schools would fail to verify whether the school bus tracking software comes with a live map. This feature plays a vital role in helping both the school administrators and parents to track the real-time location of school bus.

Therefore, schools should check whether the software supports the live map to ensure the student safety as well as to make their daily school bus operations a breeze.

6. Route Scheduling

This is one of the features that some schools usually fail to check. This is because their focus will be on the student safety in school bus. Route preparation is one of the vital features of school bus transportation software that and offers time-efficient and safe travel to and from school.

Thus, the software aids school authorities in addressing the entire needs of students as well as handling different traffic conditions to choose the best route. Thus, automating school bus route scheduling will not only offer the shortest route, but also helps the school management in dipping fuel use and maintenance expenditure.

7. Parents Convenience

Most schools fail to consider the convenience of parents of their school kids by thinking only about the students’ comfort. Usually parents prefer school transportation for their children considering the fact that it is the safest mode of transportation.

These school buses are handled by the school management on a daily basis. Very frequently, in news and other media, parents find upsetting and shocking stories about school bus mishaps and accidents.

Therefore, schools are supposed to consider a school bus tracking application notifying parents and authorities about the real-time location of their child. Thus, considering the convenience of parents is very important for schools while choosing the software.

8. Radio-frequency identification Attendance

Schools should not do the mistake of ignoring the RFID student attendance feature while choosing their school bus transportation software.

This is for the reason that this feature will offer strong, safe, as well as automatic attendance management in educational institutions. With RF-Attendance system, student attendance administration turns out to be easier, more accurate, and efficient.

Surrogate attendance can be considerably minimized or eliminated.

Check out this Slideshare presentation on Two-factor Attendance present only in TrackSchoolBus apps

It automates the entire students’ registration and ID card printing, data processing on attendance server, automatic attendance recording, everyday SMS to parents, weekly as well as monthly attendance statements for teachers, reports on attendance management system, etc.

Choosing a perfect school transportation software will be quite useful and helpful to the school management, drivers, as well as to parents. Therefore, schools are not supposed to overlook any of the vital features while choosing their software.

How to Secure Wheelchair-Bound Students in a School Bus

Posted on 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.

Secured School Bus Seating – Future of School Bus Safety

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

If you have wondered about your child’s safety when travelling on the school bus, it is true that school buses are designed to be the safest vehicles to ply on the roads. They are designed with a view to provide secure seating for the children that they are supposed to carry. This article discusses the safety aspects of school bus seats and improved design considerations for the future.

Bus Seats – Compartmentalization Design

School buses are designed in accordance with a unique design aspect called ‘compartmentalization’. It is intended to protect the passive occupants of the bus. The seats of the bus are constructed with impact-absorbing steel and have high and padded seats (on the front and back). These are firmly secured to the floor of the bus.

Must Read

School Bus Seat Belts – Are They Compulsory?

Are Seat Belts Essential for a School Bus?

In case a collision does occur, this compartmental design absorbs the impact and disperses throughout the occupant’s body instead of head and neck alone.  You would have seen eggs placed in a carton and this is much like it.

Use of CSRS (Child Safety Restraint Systems)

The safety restraint is brought into effect with the use of lap belts, harness straps and chest clips. Whereas lap belts are more suited for older children that do not fit into the CSRS category, it is important for you to remember the fact that these belts do not provide any protection to the upper body parts such as the head, neck and spine.

For CSRS to be properly used on school bus seats, the size and spacing of  seats  are important considerations. Commonly, a seat with a width of 39 inches or greater can accommodate either two CSRSs or one CSRS together with an older child that does not need CSRS. Any seat with a less width can safely accommodate  a single CSRS.

Another point in consideration is the seat spacing. The potential for injury on collision is reduced when the seat spacing is a maximum. When seats are narrowly spaced, you may not be able to secure the CSRSs appropriately. This factor, however, affects the seating capacity of the vehicle.

CSRSs are compulsory under the following conditions:

•    Students younger than five years old (Rear-facing CSRS for children less than 2 years old)

•    Students weighing less than 50 pounds

•    Students that have special needs

General Considerations

Every aspect of the school bus design is towards protecting the passengers on board from the impact of a collision. Some seat design considerations that support this requirement are as follows:

•    Bus seats are placed on the floor at a level above the impact zone where any automobile would hit the school bus.

•    There are no sharp edges in the bus interiors close to the seats; they are all rounded and smooth

Future of Secured School Bus Seating

With increased traffic and incidences of bus crashes, you may often wonder if school bus seating can get any safer. A lot of research is taking place in this area and it is believed that the new technologies can actually alleviate this worry.

Airbags: Placing airbags both in the front and on the sides of seats so that the interior can inflate itself is a good idea. This will prevent the occupants from slamming into the sides or front seats of the bus in case of a collision. Researchers are finding out ways to make them more affordable for school buses.

Smart Seats: These seats, in addition to reducing head and neck trauma, will have built-in indicators that tell the observer that they are too old to be reliable in a collision. Only such seats need to be replaced from time to time.

Wider Aisles: For the future, schools may consider seats with two different widths: one side can be sized big enough to accommodate 2 child-safe seats, and the other side with 30-inch wide seats to accommodate 1 child-safe seat. This also will make way for a wider aisle.

Conclusion

With school bus owners of today striving to make seating in school buses more secure, there always seems to be a trade-off when the costs loom large. Newer technologies in the form of airbags and smart seats seem to tilt the debate in favour of safety with every attempt being made to manufacture them with less cost.

Increase Security and Efficiency of Your School Transportation Department with TrackSchoolBus

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

Handling school bus fleet and making sure the safety of students is really a challenging job for schools, irrespective of their size and reputation. A school bus tracking solution providers such as TrackSchoolBus will offer the necessary support in guaranteeing student safety in school bus and it will considerably lessen the nervousness of parents about the safety of their children.

TrackSchoolBus offers you with tracking app that will offer a 360-degree view into the elements of a transport system like cost management, safety, driver responsibility, maintenance, etc. It can aid schools considerably in managing their fleet and keeping students as well as parents happy in an efficient way.

How this Software Guarantees High Performance of a School Bus Fleet

TrackSchoolBus aids school administration significantly in getting in touch with their bus drivers constantly. It assists the school management to have better communication with their drivers. Moreover, schools can easily know the spot of their school buses, get immediate alerts on climatic conditions, traffic rams, and can manage the emergencies as quickly as possible. The features of this TrackSchoolBus app will aid fleet vehicles as well as the bus drivers in the most resourceful way.

Some of the ways the TrackSchoolBus app support schools in handling their transportation securely and effectively include:

  1. The software offers the required convenience to the school management by means of its highly developed technology.
  2. It allows making the school bus scheduling as well as routing more efficient.
  3. It is an instantaneous GPS, meaning the school administration can get in touch with their drivers and students at any time, irrespective of the location of school bus.
  4. It simplifies the process of student attendance by making use of the face identification feature or through the Radio-frequency identification (RFID) cards.
  5. The software plays a vital role in managing absentee as well as belated students in an efficient way.

Above all, the app offers the required serenity to both parents, as well as to the school management on knowing the safety of the students. Additionally, it offers a bounty of other benefits, such as immediate warnings and information, improving the focus of bus drivers, abridging the overall costs of the schools, offering reports with accurate details, etc.

Benefits of Using TrackSchoolBus Software

  1. As the software comes with the easy-to-use interface, it offers the school administration and parents the required peace of mind in knowing the safety of the school students and the school buses.
  2. The beneficial features of the app allow schools to operate their buses in a more cost-efficient way.
  3. The software can be easily customized according to the needs of school management, parents, and bus drivers.
  4. The app is designed to work well with all the latest operating systems, regardless of the devices on which they are installed.
  5. The school management can easily create a comprehensive report on the attendance of their student according to their desired format whenever they need.

Above all, the software comes incorporated with GPS as well as with the RFID reader, meaning it is the most versatile app to track the school buses.

How Can You Boost the Effectiveness of Your School Transportion Department

Installing the Trackschoobus app will aid you significantly in making the most of your vehicle utilization, minimizing the fuel consumption, and handling emergencies in a superior way. This is because the latest technology of the software will allow you to lessen operational expenses and most significantly, it will make your fleet secure and safe for your students.

It will improve the output of your school's transport department. This is because inaccurate school bus route planning and deprived driving performance by school bus drivers can hazard to the safety of your school bus. Using this school bus tracking app will aid you substantially in constructing an efficient plan to make your school bus run on optimized routes. This will assist  bus drivers to handle their time and reach school bus stops in a timely manner.

The software will help school bus drivers to do their responsibility, thus, playing a vital role in making your school transportation department more efficient. However, sometimes they can create problems which can affect the reputation of your school.

Thus, it is essential to make the drivers know their responsibilities which will allow you to alleviate risks. Using the TrackSchoolBus software, you can track the working performance of your school bus drivers. This is very useful as when they recognize that they are under observation, they will be inclined to obey the rules and regulations and will drive in a more responsible way.

The TrackSchoolBus app will meet the expectations of parents because all parents will usually expect the school transportation to be on time, secure and comfortable for their children. However, because of unforeseen traffic conditions, school bus drivers can face difficulties to arrive at the nominated bus stops on planned time.

This software application is capable of helping parents to save their valuable time. This software will also allow parents to track the school bus of their children in real time which in turn will allow them to reach the bus stop on time.

How Can You Boost the Security of Your Transport Division

You can improve the security of your school transport division by installing GPS trackers in all of your school buses.  These specialized trackers will allow parents to know the exact location of their children and their respective school buses. This will offer them the peace of mind in knowing that their kids are secured by getting instant notification about the real-time location of their children as well as school bus

To conclude, If you want to track the real time location if school bus and children, then you must opt for a dedicated school bus tracking software such as TrackSchoolBus. By tracking the real-time location, you are ensuring the safety as well.

How to Tackle Irresponsible School Bus Drivers

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

Schools are places where numerous kids come from different places and different cultures to learn. A lot of these kids use school buses as a mode of transport to travel to and from school.

It is important to have a safe environment for them to travel so that their parents feel at peace too. For this to take place the school bus must be handled by someone who is responsible and experienced. 

School bus drivers usually enjoy working with youngsters and are skilled and competent. But in certain cases, there are those who engage in unsafe means like driving recklessly, overtaking where it is unnecessary, skipping stop signs, using cell phone while driving and over speeding.

There are also instances where bus drivers lose their temper with kids who misbehave. Some others arrive late or forget to pick up a child. This makes them unreliable.

In this blog, we will discuss about how irresponsible school bus drivers can be tackled. The various steps that can be undertaken to tackle an irresponsible school bus driver are:

  • Call Up the School 

The first and foremost thing you can do is to call up and inform the school about an incident you want to report. Speak to the principal or the administrator regarding your issue.

After all, the driver is employed by the school, so it is your responsibility to let them know about their employee’s behaviour. Keep your calm and state the reason why you are having a complaint against the bus driver.

Give them details about where, when and what happened. You can give the physical description of the bus driver in case you couldn't catch his name.

  • Refrain from Losing Temper

Yes, it is the matter of the safety of children, but try to refrain from being angry and shouting and cursing the bus driver. Inappropriate language doesn’t solve the issue.

Your complaint will be taken more seriously if you stay calm and relate things with facts. Though the driver’s actions might have put your child’s safety at risk, it is important to deal with the issue in a professional manner so that your concerns will be heard and addressed.

  •  Ask the Solution 

Once you have communicated what your concern is, ask them how they can help to resolve the issue. Once you ask how the problem will be solved see if they volunteer the information.

You can expect that they will say that the school management will need to talk to the driver before taking any action. If so, ask them when you can call again to follow up the same. You can also ask for the name of the driver if you don’t know it yet.

  • Contact the Bus Company

In case the bus driver is an employee of the bus company you need to inform the representative regarding the irresponsibility of their driver.

They are the right people to address your problem regarding the infraction made by the driver. You can start by stating the route, the time at which your child was picked up or dropped off, name of the driver or the name of the school.

Give them all the required details so they can take appropriate action. You can enquire what they are going to do about the same.

  • Follow Up 

Once you have informed the school and the bus company, follow up with calls and letters regarding your issue with the driver’s behaviour.

Make sure that you clearly state all the facts pertaining to the incident. If a solution has not yet been suggested, propose one. For example, if the driver had forgotten to pick up your child from point, ask for an apology.

  • Involve Others

Talk to other parents with children in the same school bus. There are chances that they might have witnessed the same too. For instance, your child might tell you that his driver is texting while he is driving.

Other children in the same bus might have noticed this behaviour. In case the driver denies this statement you’re more likely to be believed if there are others who support your statement. Ask the bus company to check the footages if there is a camera in the bus.

  • Disciplinary Action 

It must be realized that the driver may not be dismissed immediately. He is entitled to due process as he is an employee of the bus company. Disciplinary action will be based on the seriousness of the infringement. He might be given a suspension or his pay may be docked.

To Wrap It Up

School bus management is a tender issue and must be handled only by experienced and mature people. Any kind of irresponsibility cannot be tolerated.

Even though schools and bus companies give bus drivers ample training, there are chances that they commit some kind of infringement. It might come to the notice of parents or students that drivers sometimes commit follies while they are driving the school bus.

But the lives of students are saddled in the hands of school bus drivers. So it is the full responsibility of the drivers to act responsibly.

10 Emergency Response Tips for School Bus Drivers

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

Majority of the students in a school depends on school buses for their transportation to and from school. Along with student safety within the school premises, the schools are highly responsible for the safety of students in bus too.

Drivers are an integral part of the school bus transportation system and that is why schools should pay close attention to driver trustworthy and efficiency.

Proper training programs and assessments should be performed before assigning the role of school bus driver to a person. Even when all precautions are made, there are high chances for emergencies at times.

So it is important to train the drivers to handle the emergencies well and save the situation. As children are involved in the scenarios, keeping them calm without being panic is the key.

Here let us have a look at what all emergency situations can come up while driving a school bus and the emergency response tips for drivers.

1) First aid and CPR training

Getting relevant training and awareness of first aid to be given when some emergencies occur during bus strip is important. With this training, a driver should know how to handle medical and trauma emergencies such as shock, bleeding control, seizures, and cardiac arrest.

2) Roadway positioning

Sometimes the accident can occur at a dangerous curve or a busy road. In such cases, drivers should take initiatives to evacuate students from the bus in a well organized manner in the modest speed to avoid any further mishaps.

A driver should be aware of the places in his bus route so that the students can be held safe in some place until they get some external help. 

3) Evacuate a school bus

A driver should be aware of the situations in which the bus has to be evacuated. If a fire is seen, sudden evacuation is recommended as hazardous gases, smoke and fire can get spread in less than 2 minutes.

If fuel spill occurs with the bus or the vehicle that is involved in the crash, evacuation should be immediate as a spark can stimulate fire.

If in case, power lines got curled across the bus, the best option is to stay inside until emergency responders gives the green signal or the power is switched off.

4) Passenger injury

If the students are already injured but not at the risk of losing lives, the best option is to stay calm inside the bus and give necessary first aid until emergency responders reach the spot. Evacuating the injured students can result in further troubles.

5) Passenger accounting

First of all, drivers should know the number of students travelling in the bus on the particular day. It would be good if he can identify the students with their name and other features.

This can be a good help by him to identify the students and convey the message at the right place if in case any mishap occurs. In worst cases, drivers can check their bags for any ID card or name slips on their books to identify them.

It is good to carry the emergency contact numbers of every student travelling in the bus. Some schools advise to keep a book containing list of students and their relevant data near to the driver seat.

This helps the emergency responders to do the necessary if the driver is unconscious.

6) Know the route

Bus drivers should keep the authorities informed about the routes they are handling. This helps authorities to respond fast with necessary help in case of a mishap.

Similarly, drivers should be aware of the emergency centres and hospitals in their bus route. This helps them to save the lives of students in case of an emergency.

7) Know the student locations

A driver should be aware of the locations of every student before they move the bus. A general recommendation is to avoid moving the bus if any students are within 10 feet of the bus as kids can go careless at times.

Similarly, make sure that bus is under control and not moving in case a student is stepping in or stepping down from the bus. It is the role of the driver and the assistant staff to see that children are not stepping down from a moving bus.

8) Signalling students

The emergencies may not always happen with collision to other vehicles. There are many incidents reported where the students got injured with the bus they were travelling due to costly carelessness.

So driver should see that all doors of the bus are properly closed before they start their drive and no students are standing beside door during the drive.

It is good to advise small children to remain seated and not walking when the bus is moving as emergency braking can cause falls.

When you drop off a small kid in the drop off point, see that someone responsible has arrived to pick them. If children have to cross the road in the pick up or drop off point, make sure that they do it safe with the help of your assistant.

9) GPS tracker

A GPS tracking system in the bus can be a good help in case anything goes wrong. And the system has to be accessible to the school authorities as well as the parents or guardians. A GPS tracking app can be a handy solution for both schools and parents.

10) Role of school

Schools should understand that driver training is an ongoing process and their performance should be reviewed on a regular basis.

Prevention is better than cure and so taking some measures before hand can minimize the possibilities of accidents and in worst case to manage the situation well.

Here are a few things school authorities need to take care of to handle the emergency situations well.

  • When a new driver is interviewed, see that the necessary protocols and guidelines are met.
  • Educate drivers on the driving safety and perform emergency handling drills on a regular basis.
  • Set up a GPS tracking system in the bus in order to locate the bus position in case of an emergency.
  • A regular assessment and inspection of the security and safety of the bus should be made
  • A database of the students travelling by school bus should be kept ready to handle an emergency.
  • Every school bus should be having a first aid kit and drivers should be trained in using it.
  • It would be good if schools can set up an emergency call facility in every bus.
  • A school should be having all proper emergency response supplies.
  • The safety and security policies of school bus have to be reviewed regularly.
  • Students should also be given proper guidance and tips to overcome emergency situations

Final Thoughts

Being a school bus driver is not easy as the role involves many complexities. Sometimes he should take the role of a friend, sometimes a guiding parent and sometimes a life saver.

He should obey all traffic rules and follow safe riding as he has an extra responsibility of handling a bunch of young kids.

The emergency situations may not be always familiar ones and drivers may come across many new problems during their drive. It is his role to stay calm and customize his response according to the present situation.