Photo Courtesy of RA Archive
School buses are rarely thought of as the pinnacle of vehicle technology. While car manufacturers (and Google…) are experimenting with entirely connected and self-driving vehicles, school buses mostly forego these types of technological changes that could potentially alter the way we one day use transportation.
But, school buses are advancing technologically in ways you probably haven’t thought of. For example, if you haven’t been on one in a while, you may be surprised by the number of cameras present on school buses. Many buses use cameras inside the bus to help improve student safety and cut down on school issues such as bullying that can boil over once the students begin their ride home.
Some are also equipping their school buses with cameras set to catch drivers to ignore the flip-out stop sign attached to the side of the bus. Those drivers put the lives of children at risk, and the Clarke County School District in Athens, Georgia is leading the movement to prevent or document those drivers. The video-camera system is able to snap pictures and record videos of drivers who ignore the stop sign.
While vehicle manufacturers are able to add almost any technological inventions to their products with simple testing, buses have much more strict regulations focused on preventing all the passengers. It is understandable that one of the safest modes of transportation might be slow to adapt things like rear-view video cameras or self-driving mechanisms. But, there are other reasons technology is often slow to make its way onto the school bus.
GPS tracking has been a staple of transportation for a few years, as numerous vehicles have included GPS systems directly into the dash. But, buses tend to not have these GPS units, even though they are often called upon for school trips that can be hours away. While transportation budgets is one factor, many schools are waiting to implement GPS until it can be improved to help monitor students and vehicles more easily.
Many schools are beginning to equip their school buses with GPS-related technology so that parents can track their children and verify that they boarded the bus. For example, Rockford, Illinois’ school district is using a GPS system that uses electronic card swipes linked to each student to help monitor student transportation. A report from the Associated Press explains:
Children swipe electronic cards as they get on and off the buses, and that’s allowed school officials to tell worried parents where their kids are with the click of a computer mouse. It’s helping dispatchers keep tabs on buses during snowstorms and see if drivers are getting to their stops on time. District officials are even using the systems to analyze ridership numbers, route speeds, and idle times to make their systems more efficient.
Amber Miller, the principal of Johnson Elementary School in Rockford, said that was useful in a case where a parent was confused about whether their child was going to ride the bus or need to be picked up.
“The parent didn’t know where the student was,” Johnson said. “I called. They used the system and saw the student got on the bus, and we were able to tell the parents the child was safe.”
Of course, if you are using a bus for your personal recreation vehicle or smaller group transportation, you are likely able to fit just about any technology you want into a bus. Some people have even put showers and kitchens in their own buses. But, buses being used to actually transport students are held to a higher standard of safety and transportation directors tend to stay on the side of safety when they consider adding new technology to their vehicles.
The buses being used to transport students may not seem like space-age technology, but every piece of the vehicle has been specifically designed and manufactured to make passengers as safe as they could imaginably be. Don’t underestimate the high level of engineering it takes to turn a large open vehicle into one of the safest options on the road.
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