Technology is a helpful option for school district transportation departments looking to improve efficiency and cut costs, a transportation coordinator shared during a Thursday webinar.
Bryan Mitchell, marketing director for webinar sponsor Transit Technologies, reviewed current challenges related to on-time student transportation plagued by slashed budgets, driver shortages and increasing parent demands.
Rome City Schools in Georgia was facing a costly and inefficient payroll process, he said. With more than 100 transportation staff members relying on paper-based timesheets, including multi-colored paper for different shifts, Mitchell explained that the monthly task of preparing payroll was a logistical nightmare.
By using ByteCurve digital time clocks and payroll software, the district realized $30,000 in monthly labor cost savings totaling about $300,000 annually, even after wage increases. Jonathan Agenten, director of sales for ByteCurve, explained that the savings came from shaving a few minutes off each driver’s paid hours due to more accurate data collection. Christina Buffington, transportation coordinator for Rome City Schools, confirmed that no driver experienced a significant wage loss.
Buffington shared that the previous paper time sheet method would take up to a month to add up hours and verify before finalizing. She confirmed that the ByteCurve digital process has reduced the time it takes to complete the process and allows management to verify drivers’ route completion via GPS. Payroll errors were nearly eliminated and 10 hours were saved per week in driver communications and payroll reconciliation.
“It’s the work that drives the day – it’s the work that drives the pay,” quipped Agenten.
He reviewed the way ByteCurve streamlines and improves communication between the normally siloed transportation segments of routing, payroll and GPS tracking. The system provides a digital clock-in experience for drivers, an airport terminal-like dashboard emphasizing delayed or canceled routes that require staff attention, a real-time bus location view and the ability to automatically calculate complex pay scenarios based on district policies.
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Mitchell and Agenten reviewed the rugged and reliable Vehicle Camera Systems and Driver-Facing Cameras offered by Vestige, a sister company to ByteCurve via parent company Transit Technologies. AI-Powered Safety Solutions include a Driver Monitoring System to detect drowsiness, distraction, smoking, and phone use as well as Advanced Driver Assistance System alerts for forward collision, lane departure and pedestrian detection.
Transit Technologies also offers FASTER maintenance software which it says was “purpose built to match how fleets operate, not how companies think they do,” and can save 10-15 hours per week with automated reports and real-time dashboards.
Also recently added to the Transit Technologies family of companies was field trip management software provider busHive.
Mitchell spoke to the company’s goal of offering an integrated tech stack to meet all of a school district’s transportation needs.
These technologies are beneficial as they discover savings and efficiencies in fuel and payroll, which are the two biggest expenses in transportation, noted STN Publisher Tony Corpin.
Agenten emphasized the “white glove” treatment offered by ByteCurve in initially setting up the systems to fulfill the needs of each individual district. From Rome City Schools, both Buffington and Director of Transportation Elander Graham praised the customer service experience.
