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©2015 TripSpark Technologies, its subsidiaries and affiliates. All rights reserved. Any trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
www.tripspark.com
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5 WAYS AVL AND STUDENT TRACKING CAN IMPACT YOUR OPERATION
5 WAYS AVL AND STUDENT TRACKING CAN IMPACT YOUR OPERATION
©2015 TripSpark Technologies, its subsidiaries and affiliates. All rights reserved. Any trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
www.tripspark.com
2
1. AVL Lets You See the Big Picture
The key to operating more efficiently and dependably is to have as much insight into what’s going on. AVL data can be used to increase efficiency on the bus or in the office. If a bus is off its planned route, your team can quickly determine the source of the issue. Finding the most optimal routes saves time and money, but it can also save lives. Keeping in constant communication with drivers, while seeing on a map exactly where they are can prevent errors in terms of drop off and pick up locations. Should an issue develop on the route, your team can react immediately in order to manage the situation promptly.
In any transportation operation, there is a large amount of data that is produced every second. On the one hand, you have planned routes and schedules. This includes information on runs, drivers and students. This all needs to be integrated with an ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) solution to be able to monitor and track actual events when compared to planned events. Mobile technology (in-vehicle data collection, RFID card readers, etc.) provides data on runs, drivers and students. GPS data is sent back to the routing and scheduling software, and in a single database, all data can be analyzed and assessed by your staff.
When a parent calls in wanting to know where their child is, having access to the right information provides peace of mind to both you and that parent. That being said, student ridership tracking data can do more than simply encourage safety and dependability. Safety is only one piece of the puzzle. Integrating GPS data with a K-12 transportation software solution can produce an enormous wealth of advantages for your operation. Here are the top 5 ways in which AVL (Automated Vehicle Location) with student tracking data can totally transform the way a school transportation operation plans routes, creates student schedules and provides detailed reports on their performance.
5 WAYS AVL AND STUDENT TRACKING CAN IMPACT YOUR OPERATION
©2015 TripSpark Technologies, its subsidiaries and affiliates. All rights reserved. Any trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
www.tripspark.com
3
2. Monitor Every Student, Every Stop Along the Way
Safety may be only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to the benefits of real time student ridership tracking, but it’s the most important piece. Using RFID cards, each student scans in (or keys in) when they get on and off the bus. This action is immediately recorded by office software and staff. This leaves very little doubt as to where the student is at any given time. An RFID card reader system helps to prevent students from getting off at the wrong stop. And because each card is unique to each student, parents can zone in on the information that matters most to them: the location of their children.
Each student ID card contains information that is secure and unique to that student. When a student scans their card while boarding the bus, there can be immediate feedback regarding each student’s rider eligibility. For example, are they on correct bus and route? Issues can be managed swiftly with fewer possible errors in transportation. What’s better is that all this is done instantly and automatically, without a driver having to refer to a paper manifest or be forced to remember the large amount of information that is unique to each student they transport.
5 WAYS AVL AND STUDENT TRACKING CAN IMPACT YOUR OPERATION
©2015 TripSpark Technologies, its subsidiaries and affiliates. All rights reserved. Any trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
www.tripspark.com
4
3. Track Vehicles and Routes for VerificationWhen you make a planned routing decision, you need to know if that plan is being enforced on the road. This applies to the location of bus stops, the number of students on the bus and the efficiency with which each trip is made. In other words, you need to know your PLAN matches the ACTUAL, which ultimately impacts safety. Your stops and routes take into account the safest locations for children to board or alight from the bus. However, this also has an impact on operational efficiency. Along with planning the most desired routes, you also need to know that your buses are operating optimally (most cost-efficient route, most students on the bus.)
AVL data can show you on a map, real time and historical information about: location, heading direction, status, route adherence and speed. This means that nothing is left to chance. If you need to “re-play” a day’s trips or even a single trip, you can know exactly what occurred. Because your drivers are also being tracked with their own ID card, you will know who was driving and when. Monitoring vehicles also shows areas of concern so you can improve engine idling times, reduce fuel consumption, emissions and overall costs.
4. Encourages Increased State FundingOn top of being able to reduce the amount of accounting labor in the office, a student ridership tracking system can also enable you to provide more accurate information when it comes to applying and qualifying for state funding. When collecting ridership data for audits, manual processes can lead to data entry errors. The result is that a great deal of funding can get overlooked.
The more accurate your ability to count students, the more security there is in knowing you’re receiving the maximum amount of funding that districts sorely require. Software allows state reimbursement reports to be prepared quickly and accurately, which is due to trustworthy data collected from the pinpoint accurate, GPS data-driven student tracking system.
5 WAYS AVL AND STUDENT TRACKING CAN IMPACT YOUR OPERATION
©2015 TripSpark Technologies, its subsidiaries and affiliates. All rights reserved. Any trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
www.tripspark.com
5
5. Managing Drivers With Better Tracking
When your drivers are assigned an ID card, you can easily monitor and mark the log-in and log-out of their shifts. Because this data can be integrated with your routing and scheduling software as well as your payroll, there is little confusion when creating pay slips for drivers. Drivers get the security of knowing that their work attendance and shift times are being recorded automatically (and honored) and you get the security of knowing that your drivers are being managed efficiently and accurately.
Your drivers can also view student information on a MDT (Mobile Data Terminal) on board the bus. At a glance, a driver can double-check to make sure the student is going to their required destination. Drivers can then better help students who may be in need of assistance when it comes to their transportation schedule. For example, a driver can have access to a student’s emergency contact phone number and (if granted proper permission) a medical condition such as a medication-specific allergy, which may become vital information during an emergency. Parents have greater peace of mind knowing they can be reached faster and that their children are receiving individualized attention to their safety and well-being. Armed with accurate information, your drivers can focus on student riders with specific care and attention.
©2015 TripSpark Technologies, its subsidiaries and affiliates. All rights reserved. Any trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
www.tripspark.com
Let’s Get Started
TripSpark Education provides a complete end-to-end K-12 transportation software and hardware solution. Available AVL systems can monitor numerous events on the bus and can enable sophisticated GPS student tracking. Schedule a demo today to see how student tracking can improve safety conditions for your student riders and drivers.
