Carroll County Public Schools fleet is now one of the most modern and safest on roads thanks to a new safety partnership with BusPatrol and its technology partners Zonar, FirstNet, and Transfinder.
October 16th, 2020 In an industry-first, BusPatrol has announced a new partnership that will see all 311 Carroll County Public Schools buses fully equipped with safety technology from BusPatrol, Zonar, Transfinder, and FirstNet.
The partnership represents a major milestone for the student transportation industry. It is the first time an entire school bus fleet has been equipped at no cost with advanced safety technology provided by BusPatrol, Zonar, Transfinder, and FirstNet.
As part of the partnership, school buses will be connected to FirstNet, a wireless communications platform used by emergency response vehicles including the fire service, law enforcement, and school buses. BusPatrol is the only automated traffic enforcement company approved to run on a network built for law enforcement.
As well as this, the school district will have access to Zonar’s smart fleet management solutions which include student rider visibility, in-cab driver coaching, and vehicle inspection reporting. Through the partnership with Transfinder, the school district will have access to route planning, mapping, student tracking, and parent apps.
The implementation of the safety program in Carroll County will make roads safer for local children that rely on the school bus to get to and from school by changing motorist behavior over time. In fact, communities that use BusPatrol’s technology have experienced a 30% reduction in stop-arm violations year-on-year.
The cost of the installation and maintenance of the stop-arm cameras and other technology will be covered by the fines collected for violations of the stop-arm law.
Mike Hardesty, Director of Transportation for Carroll County Public Schools, said: “Stop-arm violations are a real danger to our students. As school buses and cars are now returning to the roads with back-to-school hybrid instruction, we want to do everything we can to make sure that students are kept safe.
“BusPatrol equipped our entire fleet at zero upfront cost. Knowing the cameras are on there will give real peace of mind to bus drivers and parents. It will also remind drivers that they need to stop whenever they see a stopped school bus on the road. Students should be reminded that they still need to look left, right and left again before entering the road for their stopped school bus. We are extremely excited about acquiring this new technology for our community.”
Speaking about the partnership, Jean Souliere, CEO of BusPatrol, said: “This is an exciting partnership for us. It’s the first time an entire school bus fleet has been fitted with not just BusPatrol technology, but also technology from our partners at Zonar, Transfinder, and FirstNet.
“Our safety programs go beyond issuing tickets. Through our innovative model and partnerships, BusPatrol has found a way to make integrated hardware, software, and cloud-connectivity accessible to school districts. We modernize the school bus and make roads much safer for our children – and this doesn’t just apply to Carroll County. Any school district in North America could equip their fleet with this technology.”