Representatives from school transportation companies discussed new technology trends and ways attendees can be prepared and proactive when making purchasing decisions.
Moderated by STN President and Publisher Tony Corpin at STN EXPO Reno in Nevada on July 15, panelists included representatives from school bus manufacturer Blue Bird, seatbelt manufacturer IMMI, video surveillance company Safety Vision, and student transportation contractor Zum Services.
Tim Gordon, the vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bird, commenced the session by discussing the a recent decision to add lap/shoulder seatbelts as standard safety equipment on all Blue Bird buses starting this fall and without price increases. He said the OEM knows seatbelts don’t fit every school district’s model, but the company felt it was the right thing to do. He explained that the data shows that three-point belts save lives, and he believes that while the school bus is the safest form of transportation, seatbelts take safety to the next level. He said changes to school transportation are often made in response to an incident, but Blue Bird wanted to be ahead of the curve.
In addition to lap/shoulder seatbelts, Gordon said the decision to add steering wheel airbags was directly attributed to a desire to create a safer environment for bus drivers because they are the first responder in a school bus crash. He noted that when reviewing school bus crash data over the past 10 years, the school bus driver is the most likely occupant to die. He recalled a visit to the IMMI facility in Westfield, Indiana, seeing the driver airbags, and thinking it would be a great idea to add on Blue Bird buses. The steering wheel airbags will be available in October 2025.
More safety technology being added to the Blue Bird buses includes front and rear cameras, LED lighting inside and out, as well as lighted school bus stop arms and bus signs. “The more we can make the bus visible, we can maybe prevent those crashes,” Gordon said.
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John Barrington, IMMI’s director of bus sales, added that safety is all about testing. That is IMMI’s focus at its Center for Advanced Product Evaluation (CAPE) facility. He said crash testing provides the company with other improvements that can be made, such as the position of the driver belt.
He added that the driver airbags could be a selling point from transportaiton directors to their bus drivers by showing they prioritize their safety. “A safe driver can assist children before first responders arrive,” Barrington said.
He added that in terms of seatbelts, another advantage is better behavior from the students resulting in less driver distraction.
Meanwhile, Vivek Garg discussed the mission of Zum Services to modernize student transportation, a goal that began in 2015 when he co-founded the company. Now, the chief operating officer said Zum is launching in five more states and bringing a heavy technology focus to customers, in addition to the school buses, which are increasingly electric.
“We realized that safety in a lot of ways is reactive in the industry,” he shared, adding that it can be made proactive with the right technology. The first example of this, he said, is cameras which historically showed what happened. Instead, they looked at how to utilize cameras before an incident happened.
Zum also has a parent app, which the parents can use to rate the ride. If three stars or lower is recorded, Zum representatives will follow up with the parents to learn what went wrong. Plus, school district transportation directors are given data on buses on time arrival.
Clint Bryer, director of sales for pupil transportation for Safety Vision, added that video surveillance has greatly progressed since the old days of video cameras. Current demand, he said, is for 100 percent coverage inside and outside the school bus.
This is especially important in the case of side and rear collisions. He noted that visibility has greatly improved. Plus, cameras today have the capability to blur faces, allowing parents to identify only their child during and incident while the school district protects the privacy of all other students on board.
He advised transportation directors to leverage IT budgets and to engage IT departments sooner in the technology adoption process so they can provide input. When asking the audience how many currently work with their IT departments, about a quarter of the room raised their hands.
Garg agreed, adding that in addition to tapping into IT department budgets IT professionals can also provide more spec data that will need to be included in RFPs.
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Gordon added that technology is moving fast, and Blue Bird is in the process of building a new EV manufacturing facility. “Being adaptive to technology changing is what is going to get us there,” he said of industry changes. He added that they are focused on benefits to the child, the driver or the environment.
Barrington advised using a “Why not?” thought process instead of simply asking “Why?” when making technology purchase decisions. Instead of approaching something with the mindset of “Why would I do that or adopt this?” he suggested asking “Why not try this?” He said the latter switches the mindset and will open leaders up to the possibilities of changing trends and advancements.
