For the last six years, Zonar Systems has donated hundreds of thousand of dollars to school districts to assist them with implementing or evolving their school bus safety and efficiency technology in memory of the late Don Carnahan, the company’s former director of business development. Zonar announced the availability of its latest grant opportunity in partnership with the National School Transportation Association (NSTA).
The 2016 Don Carnahan Memorial Grant program for school bus contractors will offer up to $50,000 per eligible district for the latest bus safety, security and efficiency technology hardware. Applications will be accepted through Dec. 16, with this year’s recipients awarded on a rolling basis. Winners will be formally announced at NSTA’s midwinter meeting next January.
Zonar and NSTA said that the grant program enables more school districts in the U.S. and Canada access to Zonar’s smart fleet technologies with inspection, tracking and reporting capabilities that empower school districts to manage their bus fleet operations more effectively.
“We are excited to partner again with Zonar on this grant opportunity and are pleased that this opportunity helps another one of our contractor members become safer and more efficient,” said Ronna Weber, NSTA’s executive director. “This opportunity affords members access to valuable tools to improve operations and keep them at the forefront of the industry’s best practices.”
H. Kevin Mest, senior vice president of business development at Zonar, said that the company wants to provide contractors and their school district customer with “leading-edge technology” that can potentially improve student safety while also reduce business costs.
Zonar offers a similar Carnahan Memorial Grant in partnership with the National Association for Pupil Transportation.
