KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Zonar Systems and the National Association for Pupil Transportation awarded more than $1 million in grants during a general session here at the NAPT Summit for the latest technology hardware to improve school bus security, safety and efficiency.
The 36 school districts from across the country that won the Don Carnahan Memorial Grant awards were recognized during a Sunday afternoon general session, with each receiving up to $50,000 to purchase smart fleet management technology from Zonar including Electronic Verified Inspection Reporting (EVIR) found on the Zonar 2010, 2020 and Zonar Connect tablets as well as GPS V3, Real Time Engine Diagnostic Reporting, Student Tracking (Z Pass), and Ground Traffic Control web-based software.
Zonar and NAPT said the recipients have a combined fleet of nearly 2,000 school buses.
“Continually improving the transportation experience of students to and from school is of the utmost importance to the Zonar team,” said H. Kevin Mest, senior vice president of passenger services at, Zonar. “We look forward to working with the grant recipients to enhancing their school bus operations with our smart fleet technologies.”
The rolling grant opportunity has been made available annually to eligible NAPT members since 2011. Zonar said the grants enable 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 and keep students safe.
The solutions include real-time insight into school bus fleets with live location reports, student ridership status and driver performance data. Additionally, the solutions verify that maintenance and inspections are in compliance, up-to-date by remotely detecting and flagging mechanical issues to significantly reduce performance problems and help eliminate breakdowns.
Recipients of the grant are NAPT members that were selected based on their proposed plans with expected ROI for using Zonar’s Fleet Management Solutions.
“NAPT is excited to partner again with Zonar on this grant opportunity and we are pleased that this opportunity helps school districts become safer and more efficient,” said Mike Martin, executive director, NAPT. “This opportunity affords members access to valuable tools to improve operations and keep them at the forefront of the industry’s best practice technologies.”
The grant was renamed after the late Don Carnahan, a former NAPT president and employee of Zonar, as well as a widely respected professional in the student transportation industry. To be eligible for the award, school districts must be an ongoing NAPT member as well as a member at the time the application is submitted. School systems currently using alternate technology that want to upgrade to Zonar are also encouraged to apply. Applications that include matching funds will be considered.
