New York City Improves Road Safety with Required Telematics

The Big Apple is now using telematics to make its roads safer for students and the public. With 10,000 school buses equipped with the technology, it is one of the largest groups of government-owned vehicles using the technology.

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November 22, 2024

New York City School Bus Telematics — School Bus Drivers in New York City have their driving habits recorded and reviewed using telematics technology.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently issued Executive Order 39, which outlines a comprehensive approach to addressing truck and bus safety for the city’s fleet and contracted units. One of the required technologies agencies are adopting under Executive order 39 is telematics.

With the telematic technology, New York City’s fleet vehicles will be able to better monitor driver habits including driving speeds and seatbelt use. While the telematic requirements are just now expanding to all government vehicles in New York City, schools in the area were already required to utilize the technology on their vehicles.

The data that is being collected includes information on speed, breaking patterns, seatbelt use, and acceleration. With this data, the New York Department of Citywide Administrative Services will be able to produce a safer municipal fleet.

A command center for the more than 29,000 city vehicles, including 10,000 school buses, has been established to manage the telematics.

Drivers that are recorded going 25 miles above the speed limit will receive an email along with their supervisor. The speed threshold was chosen to identify behaviors that created a clear danger and liability. Since implemented, excessive speeding in city vehicles has been reduced by 70%.

Commissioners with city vehicles also receive monthly reports on safety indicators such as hard breaking and seatbelt use. The reports contain a list of high and moderate risk drivers as well.

The city is focusing on outliers to ensure safety across the city. Drivers with excessive speeding issues or records of slamming on the breaks frequently receive training.

As part of the data-driven effort, New York City has partnered with Volpe to fit vehicles with additional safety features such as surround cameras, up-to-date mirrors, driver alert systems, and automatic emergency braking systems. Since this started, crashes are reported to be down 28%.

The program is also helping financially by helping employees prevent unjustified claims against them and by making the roads safer.

Topics:Telematics New York City bus drivers Safety

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