GPS Tracking

This Segment of Public Transportation Needs the Technology

Dovetails with Other School Security Efforts

It’s just a matter of time now as to when your school district buses will be outfitted with a GPS Tracking system.  This application of technology is gaining ground from coast to coast.  GPS Tracking comes in many forms and there are many businesses that are offering great innovations in tracking for their clients.  Everyday Solutions is just one of these companies.  They recently announced additional funding for their operations.

The benefits of GPS Tracking for School systems are many and include: (more…)

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The Balance Between Safety and Spying is Tested

The Assistance these Devices Offer Bus Drivers Might be the Best Reason to Use Them

Source acquired via WJBF, May 14, 2010, Augusta Georgia – the Richmond County Board of Education wants to install GPS trackers and video cameras in every county school bus. The idea behind the new technological instalments is to make bus routes safer for children, and to provide parents with accurate pick-up and drop-off times. While many parents feel that this new technology is a good idea, some parents feel that video cameras and GPS trackers may lead to stalking and spying.

A few concerned parents fear that child predators may be able to track school buses in order to abduct children. Others believe that spying on children who ride a public school bus is unethical. The district argues that school buses are state property, and (under Georgia law) schools have the right to monitor their own equipment.

Cost vs. Benefit

In order to install two cameras and one GPS tracker on each bus, the school district will need to come up with $40,000. The district intends to ask the Richmond County Board of Education to purchase the equipment for the district’s 128 buses. The goal is to install two cameras on each bus “…one in the idle and another in the front.” The district hopes to be able to report all school bus activity by reviewing camera video regularly. (more…)

GPS (Global Positioning System) vehicle tracking technology, long affiliated with military and law enforcement groups, businesses and families, is headed out in a different direction:  GPS tracking equipment is going to school and it’s riding the bus!

Promoting school bus safety efforts via the use of satellite technology has, in a number of ways, already proven to be advantageous in public schools across the country.

Some of the reasons are as standard as with any vehicle tracking decision:  reduction of fuel , operational and maintenance costs, efficiencies in route times and the minimizing of excessive idling, speeding and unsafe driving.  GPS tracking accurately determines the location of buses, whether they have stopped at all designated locations and for how long.  In the event of a breakdown, a nearby bus can be located within seconds and if buses do not reach their stops at regularly scheduled times, they are easily identified by this unit. 
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