b'SPECIAL REPORTThe app gives parents peace of mind,Realizing Other Benefits ofand its cut down half of their calls to us,School Bus Wi-Fisaid Kevin Easley, school transportationRespondents to a survey conducted this director at Raytown Quality Schools, whosummer by School Transportation News detailed the districts experience withdescribed their expectations and uses for Wi-Fi at the 2017 STN EXPO Reno. NowWi-Fi on their school buses.they know where their children are fasterFor the upcoming year, the Wamego than when they called us to track downSchool District in Kansas equipped its the bus and [we called] them back withbuses with Wi-Fi to run a surveillance an update about the location. program from Transportant. The system Students also connect their mobile de- integrates cameras with live streaming vices with the bus Wi-Fi to do homeworkvideo, audio and GPS with an applica-and communicate with their teacherstion, so that operations can track buses while riding to school. The district said itand monitor student behavior.believes it has made a good investmentSTN Reader In Charleston, West Virginia, the in bus Wi-Fi, because it has increasedSurvey Says: school buses that are equipped with educational minutes for students andWi-Fi are used to create hotspots in the provided more support for teachers. 36%community, where there are no internet connections. Over the last several years, Helping Districts Save Money the buses have been placed at football Shelby Eastern Schools, a small districtforesee thegames, so students and parents can fill in Indiana, uses Wi-Fi and a telematicsemergence of 5G asout college paperwork for financial aid. platform to collect data from its bus fleetrevolutionizing theThey also discovered that having Wi-Fi and identify inefficiencies. Using Zonarsflow of data to andon the buses occupied students and im-Ground Traffic Control system, the districtfrom school buses proved behavior on long trips.was able to analyze its routes and fuel us- 271 responses But the survey also showed that many age to identify cost savings. It also helpeddistricts dont have Wi-Fi capability on the transportation team spot-check driv- school buses. Its part of an issue referred ers, to verify if they were following safetyto as the digital divide between students procedures while on the road. 83%with and without access to new technol-It took less than a month for the trans- ogy at home.portation team to calculate the cost of its 19 routes, in terms of time, fuel and labor.of school buses doPush to Get Bus Wi-FiThe district found that by eliminatingnot currently useSome federal lawmakers want to one route and restructuring other routes,Wi-Fi to transferensure that all students have internet it would save about $80,000 in opera- data to and from theaccess, and school buses are proposed tional costs for the upcoming academicschool bus (i.e., foras the guaranteed place to access a year. And then every year after that. downloading video) connection for homework. A bipartisan The savings made a significant282 responses bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Tom Udall of impact, said Katrina Falk, assistant trans- New Mexico, would require the Federal portation director for the rural district.Communications Commissions E-rate We were able to justify a pay increase forprogram to reimburse school districts our contracted drivers. that install Wi-Fi technology on school A few other benefits: An analysis ofbuses.their diesel-powered fleet proved to theIf passed into law, it could help close school board that the current fleet ofthe technology gap and provide dis-buses could run more efficiently thantricts with greater capability to tap into replacing them with alternative fuel ve- applications. And it would come at an hicles. And by monitoring school busesopportune time for school districts to on their routes, the team can make sureleverage powerful mobile communi-the drivers are going the speed limit,cation and technology advances that following proper railroad crossing proce- will soon be made possible by 5G net-dures and activating stop-arms. works.22School Transportation NewsSEPTEMBER 2019'