b'cant argue with tha she relayed. Drivers also have photos of who is allowed to get students off of the bus, and some drivers allow the students to tap themselves on and off of the bus, which is fun, and provides very accurate ridership data for routing.Weston Bartlett, director of transportation in Melissa ISD Texas, said he was looking for a way to ensure his students safety with Tyler Drive tablets. His district, which is located north of Dallas, has a student enrollment of about 3,300 and is expected to continue growing exponentially each year.My drivers love the tablets now, because Tyler Drive is veryFirst easy to use, said Bartlett. TheStudents older ones were reluctant, whichDean Suhre is understandable if youre stilland Tylers using a Jitterbug phone. Ted Thien Tylers Traversa Ride 360 pro- display the vides additional peace of mind,tablet. added Bartlett. He pointed out that schools take attendance all day, and then place kids on a bus, but do not know wherenience, and if we discovered some bug, Id call support.or when they got off. As a new customer, Bricks said the district has a dedicated Bartlett cited a perfect example of this problem. TheTyler representative who takes care of any issues promptly. police called when I was home at the dinner table. TheyWe had some problems with the program meshing with wanted to know if a student rode the bus home, heSchool Tool, but thats fixed now, Bricks added. Once recalled. Before, I would have had to go back to work,the tablets were in every drivers hands, the feedback was which would take over an hour. With Traversa, I just100-percent positive, especially with our subs, who now pulled out my laptop and told the police that the studenthave a photo and name of [all] student [riders].had left the bus at 4:15 that day at his home. HavingPalmyra-Macedons drivers knew the tablets were answers quickly reduces those moments where yourecoming, but this summer was the first time that Tyler holding your breath, he related. Drive was used exclusively for routes. I handed them a Jeremy Bricks, transportation supervisor for the Palmy- tablet, and its been working perfectly, except for one issue ra-Macedon district in upstate New York, said he is pleasedthat was my fault, Brick laughed. The drivers are used to with how Tyler Drive Tablets and Traversa have worked forfinding their routes by bus number. When I made up the his district. Bricks, whose district is small enough that hesummer routes, I wasnt sure which buses I was going to and his head driver perform the routing, began graduallybe using, so I gave them names, like BOCES [Boards of rolling out the tablets at the end of the last school year. HisCooperative Education Services]. Drivers were coming to older drivers were initially resistant. me, unable to find their routes, and then it dawned on me Wed been working with the new Tyler program forthat it was only the substitutes. They were trying to find a about a year while I input routes, but I was still using ourbus number. Chalk that up to experience.old routing program for the paper route sheets until theBricks said he loves the 65-inch monitor in the depart-end of the school year, Bricks said. Then, I didnt givement office that shows where each bus is in real-time. tablets to all of the drivers at once, but only to a few who IIn the event of a breakdown, he said he can assign knew would give honest feedback. They loved the conve- selected stops to various buses. I can see that a bus is www.stnonline.com49'