Don't rely solely on telephone, email or the postal service for parent notifications. You can’t know which method a parent prefers or checks most often. The more ways you have to communicate with parents, the more likely it is your message will get through.
Given how badly the school bus driver shortage is affecting school districts around the country, it's absolutely vital that school transportation directors and administrations do whatever they can to retain the drivers on their payroll. In many areas, this can even be a case where unusual or drastic action is needed because of how hard drivers can be to replace.
School districts across North America are switching to alternative fuel sources for their bus fleets, and for good reason. Propane helps to reduce the costs of school bus transportation while also helping to reduce emissions.
New standards for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, which includes school buses, were designed to improve fuel efficiency and decrease pollution. Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued these standards that were called for by the President’s Climate Action Plan.
Depending on the state where your school district is located, you may be receiving Medicaid reimbursement dollars for the transportation of special needs students. As with any reporting for government funding, the process of collecting and communicating this transportation data can be complex. Fortunately, student transportation software is helping transportation departments to create thorough and accurate reports.
The debate over the installation of seatbelts in school buses isn’t likely to end soon. Many states now require, or have introduced legislation to require, seatbelts on vehicles that transport students. While it’s easy to assume that installing seatbelts would be the solution to ensuring school bus safety, the issue is rather complex, with compelling arguments made on both sides.
One of the main arguments against the installation of seatbelts is that buses are considered extremely safe. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that an average of six students die in school bus crashes each year, compared to the 42,000 people killed in other types of traffic accidents.
School districts across North America are seeking out ways to reduce their carbon footprint, and transportation departments are playing a major role in this process. Of course, switching to propane or other cleaner fuels to power school buses is one way to make a positive impact. Some districts are even experimenting with electric buses and solar-powered equipment. There are also several additional ways that transportation departments are keeping things clean on the roadways.
There are things we do in BusBoss to minimize left turns, but we do not prevent them. Specifically, in the routing algorithm, we assign a "value" for navigating an intersection. It's not exactly like this, but it's close enough for discussion purposes.
A Policy Overhaul
Keeping students safe from accidents and violent behavior in the classroom is naturally a top priority for school districts across the country. Student safety is just as important during the trip to and from school, where small distractions can lead to devastating consequences. As Beaufort County School District prepares for its first year of managing its own school bus fleet, they’ve incorporated stricter consequences for students who don’t follow the rules.
With challenges such as students moving in and out of the school district and moving to new homes within the district, school bus drivers need to stay informed about where to pick up the children they are driving to school.
When student bus stops change, web access portals are able to assist school bus drivers. Route optimization software allows drivers to receive daily updates on their computers before they leave to drive their school bus routes in the morning.
According to a great deal of the schools we deal with, one of their most pressing reasons for switching to school bus routing software is to ensure their drivers are kept up to date. Modern bus route software can be leveraged to bring time savings to virtually any district, and enhanced routing reports for their school bus drivers.
