b'ination of paper route sheets. The number one benefit isubiquitous. Every school district of any size will find that the audible directions that give drivers the tools they needthere is a justifiable need to put tablets on buses.to provide safer service to our students, she observed.Suhre said First Student is expected to install itsTablets vs. Papercustom version of Tyler Drive throughout its NorthRegulations on tablet use vary from state-to-state. American fleet over the next two years. As part ofMost legislation allows for the appropriate utilization of the nationwide rollout, there will be uniform trainingmobile technology, according to Suhre. For example, reorganizing existing support resources around thisthere is clear legislation against cell phone use while initiative, onboarding teams of people to provide onsitedriving. Keep in mind that this technology has penetrat-support and helpdesk support, he explained. Resourcesed virtually every other transportation industry. Its only that are unparalleled in the industry. new to student transportation.Suhre sees tablets as the latest example of technologyHe pointed out that the Tyler Drive includes a Motion for the pupil transportation industry that will only advanceLock feature, which can set the screen to view-only more rapidly in the coming years. I think that well startmode. The feature also renders the touchscreen inoper-seeing varying levels of autonomy, and electric buses willable while the school bus is moving.become commonplace. Im excited about the future, andDavid Myers, director of transportation for East Allen Im glad that First Student is going to be a part of it. County Schools in New Haven, Indiana, said he is wait-Thien called the announcement a sea-change mo- ing for his state to clarify whether tablets can display ment for the industry. The biggest contractor in theinformation to the driver while the bus is in motion, industry is saying, We will put tablets in our buses,or they must go black. Which is safer, Myers asked. A he continued. In-vehicle tablets are the new normal.tablet screen or sub drivers going down the road with a This technology isnt just for bus contractors, it is nowpiece of paper in their hands?www.stnonline.com47'