SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Newton County School System in Georgia was named winner of the 2017 Tyler Public Sector Excellence Award at the Tyler Technologies Connect user conference for the district’s success in using Versatrans Routing and Planning transportation management solution.
In 2013, the long-time Versatrans customer began reviewing its key performance indicators to define goals for the future. In doing so, the district looked at other technological solutions on the market as options. It determined that Versatrans remained the best fit for the district’s needs.
“We quickly realized the need for GPS and the crucial role it could play to increase both the effectiveness and response time of staff decision making,” said Kelly Smith, Newton County’s operations technology coordinator.
She explained that school system personnel from both the school system and Tyler Technologies personnel worked alongside school system employees to rollout the project for the 2014 school year. This included installing Tyler Telematic GPS on every vehicle in the fleet. As a result, Smith said the district has expanded its database of departmental functions for evaluating operational efficiency.
“Administrators can track arrival and departure times at schools, develop average on-time delivery rates, evaluate routes and make appropriate corrections based on verifiable, current data,” she added. “Average miles driven, average route times and lengths can all be calculated, reviewed and used as benchmarks for future improvements and refinements.”
Newton County also uses vehicle location data to ensure that first responders can obtain exact locations of buses involved in emergencies. Smith said the district’s mechanics use remote diagnostic codes to identify necessary parts and tools they need for certain jobs, and they receive email alerts on bus temperature and better voltage, all of which quickens repairs and minimizes vehicle downtime.
The school district will eye the implementation of student RFID tracking, but Smith said the transportation deparment is already able to provide improved transparency for both drivers, parents and students.
“Drivers can be confident they are paid for all time worked,” she said. “Administrators can address parental concerns regarding bus stops, and students and parents can track their bus real time.
“By implementing the full suite of Versatrans products, the district now has total oversight over (its) pupil transportation department.”
Tyler said entries are judged based on their organizational efficiency and productivity, organizational responsiveness, business value, innovation, and their relevance to other organizations using Tyler solutions.
