The National Transportation Safety Board’s Thomas Barth, Ph.D., headlines a general session panel discussion next month at the STN EXPO in Reno, Nevada that shares what an autonomous vehicle pathway means now and in the future to school buses and student transporters.
Thomas Barth, Ph.D.A survival factors investigator and a biomechanical engineer for NTSB, Barth will share with attendees an update on recent high-profile school bus investigations before facilitating the roundtable on the link between autonomous vehicles and automated school bus safety controls.
Following his update on NTSB investigations the morning of July 11, including the Chattanooga and Baltimore school bus crashes, he will tie in NTSB’s annual Most Wanted Safety List of Improvements with the subject of ever-increasing automation in school bus operations and the potential benefits they hold in making the yellow bus even safer as well as reducing distraction for bus drivers.
The discussion will feature the perspectives panelists representing the world of academia, fleet management and vehicle safety controls as they examine how current and emerging technology can or could shape student transportation operations and improve not only the unparalelled record of safety school buses offer but also increased efficiency for bus drivers, fuel and maintenance savings, and more.
Barth will interview Kostas Alexis, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno and a member of the Intelligent Mobility project, as well as Fred Andersky, director of government affairs and controls for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, and Mark Swackhamer, assistant director of transportation for Humble ISD near Houston and a nationally recognized fleet manager.
Barth received his bachelor’s of science degree from Colorado State University and his doctorate in applied science from Cranfield University. He has seven years of experience with NTSB investigating major transportation crashes, concentrating on survivability, crash dynamics and first response. Additionally, he has 20 years of transportation industry experience in occupant safety, regulatory compliance and crash dynamics.
For more information, visit our full STN EXPO conference overview online.
