Technology to help track and monitor school buses

By JIM LINCOLN

School buses in the Tecumseh school district will take a high-tech turn this year thanks to a new mobile monitoring system installed by First Student transportation.

First Student manager Sue Dieter presented the system to the Tecumseh School Board at the Aug. 9 regular board meeting.

The web-based tracking and monitoring system will be introduced on all Tecumseh school buses, increasing safety and security for students, according to Dieter.

Tecumseh’s privatized busing service, First Student, purchased and installed Zonar over the summer. Zonar is a brand of monitoring equipment that allows the busing company to know the location at any given time of its buses, time ranges, maximum driving speed and maximum idling time — all through a computer.

Each bus is wired with electronic sensors, which link to a computer in the offices at First Student on Maumee Street. The sensors monitor the condition of the vehicle and communicate directly to mechanics of any problems or failures, such as a burned-out turn signal. Zonar also acts as a double-check for driver’s compliance to inspect the bus before and after each run. Prior to Zonar, drivers would manually check off a list of required procedures.

“It’s about safety and security,” said Dieter when introducing the new system, which was purchased and installed at no cost to the schools. Tecumseh Public Schools is currently in the second year of a five-year contract with First Student, a division of the U.K.-based First Group busing company.

Thirty drivers with Tecumseh’s First Student will use Zonar when buses roll out for the start of the school year on Sept. 7 when drivers will carry the hand-held device to perform pre- and post-trip bus inspections.

Future use of Zonar may include a monitoring system that provides information about who is getting on and off the bus. Already in use by some school districts, students are given identification cards, which Zonar reads wirelessly.

First Student offices are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday at 700 S. Maumee Street. Call 423-2706 for more information.