b'right around the corner, ask that driver to cover stopsshots of route sheets and hand-drawn maps. Now 14 through 18, and ask another driver to cover stops 19,Hannon said the regular drivers usually turn the tablet through to the end, He added. The drivers can simplyscreen down, but the subs love using the turn-by-turn bring those stops up on the tablet. directions. Hannon said he is also looking forward to obtaining good data from the tablets for creating routes.Rugged Jobs Made Easier The event button is another feature that Hannan said Larry Hannan, transportation supervisor at Wamegohe wants to use next. For instance, a driver who encoun-Public Schools in Kansas, moved to new tablets that wereters challenging student behavior can simply press the robust enough to survive the gravel roads that many ofevent button and Hannan receives an email alert. Then, his buses navigate. We switched to a start-up company,Hannan can address the student personally, via the Transportant, said Hannan. Their system is simple,speakers on the bus, Johnny, this is Mr. Hannan, and I while some of the other routing systems are just toowant you to stay in your seat, Hannon noted.much effort to run. Were small, and my administrativeMeanwhile, Tyler Technologies Thien said he recalled assistant and I have other duties to attend to. a bus driver at one district telling him that driving any He explained that the Transportant tablets are moreroute was now possible with the help of Tyler Drive. rugged and prevent loose connections. We arent usingThat driver was confident and comfortable using a all of the features yet, but during the coming school year,tablet to drive a new route, he added. With the driver we are implementing Wi-Fi for the students that is tunedshortage, you want to have your employees be able to into the student network. Many of our impoverished fam- drive any route. The technology allows them to do that ilies dont have the internet at home, so the kids will haveand provide the same high-level of customer service the opportunity to get some homework done on the bus.they want to provide, he concluded. Before Transportant, Wamego drivers used screen NATIONWIDE PUSH-TO-TALK100% Connected School Communications Linking Buses, Teachers, Admin & Police TogetherCompliant with Federal Driver Distraction LawsNetwork & Device Agnostic Americas Largest 4G LTE NetworkAffordableAs Low As $1 Per DayContact us for Back-to-School Specialsteamconnectusa.com|(888) 832-6788 (TeamPTT)|sales@teamconnectusa.com50School Transportation NewsSEPTEMBER 2019'