Transfinder Scores Hat Trick with STN EXPO Innovation Choice Awards

July 23, 2024

From left: Transfinder's Jim Nestico, account executive, Frank Grazely, sales consultant, and John Daniels, vice president of marketing, at the STN EXPO Reno trade show on July 16, 2024. Photo by Ruth Ashmore.

RENO, Nev. — Transfinder defended last year’s best hardware and software wins and added a safety technology award, while RIDE was voted as having the best green technology as judged by STN EXPO West attendees during the trade show held last week.

The 125 attendees who cast votes in the third annual STN EXPO Innovation Choice Awards on July 15 and 16 represented a 47-percent increase in participation from last year. Thirty-five duplicate votes were not counted. Eligible voters represented school district, state or federal organizations, Head Start agencies, and school bus contractors.

To be eligible for an entry, participating trade show vendors had to have introduced a new product that is market-ready between January 2023 and July 2024. STN EXPO attendees voted by scanning a QR code at participating company booths.

Transfinder ran away from the field in all three categories it entered. The Schenectady, New York, company received 115 votes in the six-product software category for its “QUAD” integration of Routefinder PLUS routing, Servicefinder maintenance software, Wayfinder driver communications, and Stopfinder parent app. It was the third year in a row that Transfinder won the Best Software category.

In winning the safety technology category, which also had six products entered, Transfinder tallied 114 votes for its new Patrolfinder for Schools solution. Patrolfinder uses strategically placed tags on school campuses and a proprietary app to allow law enforcement to monitor activity. And Transfinder beat out three other companies with 111 votes for its Studentfinder Kiosk hardware that works with Viewfinder to locate students by using RFID card readers and laptops or tablets.

“Transfinder is honored to win the Innovation Choice Awards at the 2024 STN EXPO. Transfinder has won the Best Software award for three years running. Last year, we entered the Best Hardware category as we truly have become an all-in-one solution, and we won that, too,” said Antonio Civitella, president and founder of Transfinder. “This year, we added a third category win, Best Safety Technology, for our Patrolfinder for schools solution that will improve safety both on school buses and on campuses. We know a lot is riding on Transfinder because a lot is riding on those yellow buses that travel through our communities. Transfinder must continue to innovate as more is being expected of transportation departments, from district leadership as well as parents.”

Meanwhile, RIDE also handily won the green technology category for the second-consecutive year, this time for its “Creator” Type C electric school bus. The manufacturer won the same category last year for its Type A “Achiever.” The Creator features RIDE’s proprietary blade battery technology that offers optimized battery pack structure.