Iris scanners tested on special-needs school buses

LANCASTER, Calif. — The Antelope Valley Schools Transportation Agency has concluded a trial test of biometric iris scanners to track students as they board and exit special-needs buses.

Officials said that a key goal for the technology is to prevent tragedies like the death of an autistic student who was left on a Pupil Transportation Cooperative school bus in Whittier, California, in September.

Iritrak’s IRITRANS system has reportedly been in research and development for more than a decade. School bus drivers use the iris scanner to log students as they board and exit the bus.

At the end of the route, the driver ends the route on the IRITRANS mobile device. If all of the students have not exited the bus, the device gives the driver visual and audible warnings.

As for the trial test at Antelope Valley Schools Transportation Agency, CEO Morris Fuselier said that the IRITRANS system operated as claimed. He added that he appreciates the many management tools that are available in the system’s real-time and history reports.

Iritrak President John DeVries said that the problem of students being left on buses “is at epidemic proportions nationally."

The IRITRANS system enables administrators to know in real time where a bus is located and the specific students who are on board. Also, parents can elect to receive text messages when their child boards or exits the bus at school in the morning and at home in the afternoon.

Iritrak officials said that the iris scans are "non-intrusive," with no health or identity security risks in the processes of enrollment and daily scanning on and off buses.

For more information on the IRITRANS system, go to www.iritrans.com.