Conference aims to dispel GPS myths

LAS VEGAS — A discussion of global positioning system (GPS) applications in pupil transportation highlighted the 10th annual user meeting of Edulog, a routing and scheduling software company based in Missoula, Mont.

Close to 200 transportation professionals attended the conference, which took place April 4-6 in Las Vegas. This year’s theme, “Dispelling the Myth of GPS and Student Transportation,” offered perspectives on the benefits of GPS technology.

Dr. Rick Grubb, transportation supervisor at Knox County Schools in Knoxville, Tenn., uses Edulog in conjunction with ESRI’s ArcMap tools (which provide the map grid to the service area) to manage bus routes. He is investigating solutions to integrate GPS technology with the software applications.

Grubb isn’t interested in paying what he described as the “exorbitant costs” third-parties charge to decode or manage data collected from buses. But he is interested in a system that can be linked to an existing payroll function for his contracted bus services.

Grubb intends to use GPS tools to help equalize service expectations among the contractors and to adjust the pay schedule based on the quantity and quality of provided services. “Implementing these optimizations will benefit the contractors while simultaneously enhancing service quality and consistency for our transported students,” he said. The district has 125 contractors who operate 400 buses.

Philip Mugg, transportation director at Tippecanoe School Corp. in Lafayette, Ind., uses cellular technology with GPS capability. The system was developed by Synovia in Indianapolis to enhance the district’s routing system.

Mugg chose cellular over radio for data transmission because of its long-range tracking capabilities and its effectiveness. He said radio has range limitations and satellite transmission is too costly. He uses onsite information storage as opposed to offsite because of the lower cost and conveniences involved. He pays about $10 for one megabyte of data, which provides updates every 30 seconds. The data plan is pooled equally within the 134-bus fleet at 134 megabytes of data per month.

Michael Shields, transportation director at Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Salem, Ore., passed on live GPS due to the high annual costs and instead chose digital video with GPS capability. Security Systems Inc., a company in Salem, provided the system.

“We will use the GPS portion of digital video as a management tool for routing purposes,” Shields said. “But it can be used as a security tool or for live tracking of students for customer service purposes.”

This year’s conference also featured a field trip to Clark County School District’s transportation division, which uses a computerized routing and scheduling system developed by Edulog to maintain optimal utilization of its fleet of 1,224 buses.