Bus GPS Trackers

School Bus Student Tracking

Over the past 15 years, GPS trackers have been used for an assortment of applications from law enforcement surveillance to business vehicle management. Bulky devices requiring external antenna installation and costly monthly service payments alienated many markets, but that has changed since GPS trackers have evolved substantially. Now, GPS fleet trackers are smaller and totally compact systems affordable to small businesses and families looking to improve employee productivity and family safety. In fact, GPS tracking technology has become incredibly affordable and user-friendly, making many school bus operations see the benefits of networking bus fleets through GPS vehicle management solutions. From the perspective of a school, bus GPS tracking technology can provide a number of different advantageous features that can help reduce unneeded fuel consumption while also boosting student safety. These positive GPS tracking benefits include:

1. Driver Time & Attendance
2. Route Accountability
3. Live Updates On Bus Location
4. Mileage Recording
5. Driver Speed Alerts
6. Driver Arrival/Departure Alerts
7. Student Ridership 

GPS fleet management is so much more complex today than it was in the past. Schools bus operations need to make certain that regular maintenance is being performed, that school bus drivers are operating buses in a safely, that the best routes are being utilized to reduce driving time, and most importantly that school bus drivers are not going too fast to where they could put student lives in danger. This is the reason why investment in school bus tracking systems is something more and more districts are calling upon. Real-time GPS trackers offer more than live updates on where a bus is located and historical access to where a bus has been. These sophisticated monitoring devices have the ability to alert bus fleet managers if a school bus driver is driving over a speed limit, send warnings regarding low fuel or harsh braking and even break down driving mileage in multiple different avenues including by date or by state traveled! GPS fleet tracking solutions that operate in real-time can be used for school bus management in a way that provides parents peace-of-mind while also giving school districts the tools to improve oversight.

School Bus Tracking Software

Since the tragic bus crash in Chattanooga that resulted in the heartbreaking death of five children, many parents have been asking why school bus GPS tracking technology is not equipped on all school buses. The question is a relevant one considering that GPS tracking devices are now abundantly around us in many forms, and the monitoring technology has been providing numerous benefits that include:

• A simple way for schools to monitor bus operator driving activities
• Document mileage, route history and address information
• Determine if school bus drivers are making safe driving choices

What is known at this time is that the school bus involved in that horrific accident in Chattanooga was not equipped with a school bus GPS tracker, and the majority of school buses that transport children to and from school are not installed with any form of live GPS tracking technology. Sadly, many school buses are not even designed with basic lap seat belts let alone state-of-the-art safety straps that one would think all vehicles transporting children would have! So the general consensus is that more could and should be done to improve the efficiency and safety of the school buses used to transport kids. That is for certain. However, for those lucky enough to live in a school district that places a priority on bus safety by calling upon GPS auto tracking technology, they might ask themselves how exactly it is a a school district can track the speed of a bus operating in the field. The answer is actually very simple and involves real-time tracking.

Track The Speed Of School Buses In Real-Time

When a school bus has a real-time GPS tracker installed upon it the device will constantly be sending and receiving locational information. One major piece of this information is speed. Not only does the live tracking device document the speed the school bus travels and stores that information upon remote computer servors, but the tracker also has the unqiue ability to notify fleet managers if the bus is traveling at unsafe speeds. For example, let’s say a school district never wants any of their school buses to travel over 55mph. If that is the case all the school district fleet operators need to do is set a speed alert on the tracker to send out both an email and SMS alert if the bus travels over that 55mph mark. The bus GPS tracker can also record and document every single instance when that speed barrier was broken! This feature is great because it allows school districts to determine if a particular driver is adhering to safe driving practices, which is crucial considering that speeding was believed to be the cause of the accident in Chattanooga as well as many other automotive accidents.

Most people have the good sense to agree upon that child safety shoiuld be a top priorty, and that children should not die on their way to school. If GPS tracking units can help reduce or eliminate even a single child from dying, well this writer believes that is a tremendous investment.

How To Prevent School Bus Accidents

Automotive accidents occur every single day, but when it comes to public transportation most commuters feel a higher sense of safety. Sadly, even commuter school buses can find themselves involved in automotive collisions as was the case in New Jersey that resulted in many significant injuries and death. The fatal school bus accident occurred when a Mount Olive school bus slammed into a dump truck.  The crash impact had so much force that it actually caused the school bus to flip over on its side. Bystanders initially feared the worst when they saw the school bus fall onto its left side, as the yellow school bus had over 40 child passengers riding to school. Although the video evidence will certainly shed some light on the complete story, preventative measures may have resulted the accident from ever occurring. This is because tools designed to measure driving activity such as school bus GPS tracking devices can determine if a driver is engaging in dangerous driving behaviors before an accident occurs.

School Bus Accidents

The fact remains that school bus tracking systems can be used to determine if a driver is consistently speeding, aggressively braking and more. Should all public transportation vehicles be mandated to employ both video recording equipment and vehicle monitoring devices? That is still up for debate, but most parents would gladly vote for a solution that would provide better management over school bus driving activity. Especially, given the data from the school bus tracker could give districts detailed information about each driver while also accounting for student riders.

School Bus Tracking System Denver Colorado

In Denver, Colorado the weather can be downright brutal. Snowfall can literally make commuting impossible and icy roads can add another element of danger to school bus drivers. These are just some of the reasons why Denver school officials made the decision to move forward with a plan that would outfit school buses with GPS tracking devices and students with ID passes that will literally check-in each student as they enter or exit the bus. When parents allow their children to use school transportation a certain level of trust must be in place. Children are the most important part of any parents’ life and that is why it is essential that school buses provide the highest level of safety while transporting students. This is what school bus tracking devices provide because the monitoring systems give school district officials and parents a better way to observe school bus activity to ensue child student safety. When asked about the GPS tracking plan as a bus fleet tracking solution, a person overseeing transportation management for Denver schools explained that the end goal is knowing where students are located, that they are safe, and getting detailed arrival and departure data to reduce unnecessary expenses related to fuel. Although many school districts all over the country have implemented a GPS tracking strategy to monitor vehicles, Denver public schools will be taking personal monitoring to a whole new level by incorporating radio frequency enabled ID cards.

School Bus Safety For Students

How the Denver RFID enabled cards work is simple. Students who travel via school bus will be given a card that they will scan before they step foot on or off the school bus. The card each student will carry will utilize the latest in radio frequency identification as it will record and log every time a student enters or exits through the school bus doors. The data will then be transmitted using GPS tracking to where parents and school officials can determine who is or isn’t riding on each school bus. All the students will need to do is push the identification card on the scanners installed on each Denver school bus. When the scanner emits a green light that will signify the student has been documented as a passenger. The hope is that the new student tracking system will not only increase student safety, but also improve the efficiency of bus transportation.