MISSOULA, Mont. – When students return to school after the summer break, all school buses in Rutherford County, Tennessee, will have EDULOG’s GPS systems on board, and the district’s transportation director believes that it will keep students safer and save more than $100,000 per year.
With about 250 school buses, Rutherford County Schools transports more than 25,000 students every day. The county has been growing rapidly, and adds seven or eight new buses every year, according to Mike Snell, transportation director at the Rutherford County Schools.
Student safety is a top priority at Rutherford, and the school board voted unanimously last spring to install the system on all buses, Snell said.
EDULOG’s GPS system provides school districts with real-time data about where school buses are at all times, helps ensure that students are on the right buses and keeps parents informed about student transportation schedules.
Transportation Director Snell has been at the Rutherford County Schools for the past 11 years and is looking forward to starting off the new school year with a GPS system in place, he said. The transportation department will be able to carefully monitor routes and update them more quickly and efficiently, saving the district about $104,000 per year, he said.
The GPS technology allows school districts to operate more efficiently throughout the school year. It also helps districts better handle parent phone calls about bus location; respond quickly to emergency situations such as mechanical difficulties and bus breakdowns; and identify problems – such as late buses and missed stops – and solve issues before they become catastrophic.
“We are excited about the possibilities and opportunities an active GPS system will provide,” Snell said. “The ability to monitor buses in real time will be an important component to maintain safe environments for our students while they are being transported to and from school.”
About Education Logistics, Inc.
Education Logistics, Inc. (EDULOG) has been recognized as the industry leader in pupil transportation solutions since 1977, with 180,000+ school buses routed by its clients each day. EDULOG partners with K-12 school districts to provide total transportation management systems including true GIS planning and scheduling software, efficiency and optimization studies, guaranteed cost savings plans, GPS-based routing software, student tracking, driver time and attendance tracking, vehicle inspection, boundary planning, enrollment projection, field trip management, fleet maintenance, and a comprehensive selection of Internet-based products for districts large and small. EDULOG uniquely combines its powerful software with initial and continuing consulting services provided by the industry’s largest source of such expertise. For more information about EDULOG, visit www.edulog.com/company/.
