PALO ALTO, Calif. — Business research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan has honored Zonar Systems with the 2008 Product Innovation of the Year Award in recognition of the company’s technical leadership.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents the Product Innovation of the Year Award to a company that has demonstrated an ability to develop or advance products with more innovative capabilities than competing vendors.

The award recognizes that company’s successful adoption of new or existing technology that has become a part of its well-designed product family. The innovation is expected to significantly contribute to the industry in terms of product performance and degree of technical change.

“Our products and services represent the collaborative efforts of countless dedicated professionals within the pupil transportation community. It’s an honor and privilege to be part of this community, and we believe this award validates our ongoing commitment to customer-driven ingenuity,” said William Brinton, Zonar senior vice president of marketing.

Zonar Systems’ hardware and software system components include the Electronic Vehicle Inspection Report, which enables school bus drivers to perform pre- and post-trip safety inspections and electronically document inspection observations; GPS; ZPass, a Web-based RFID card system for student ridership tracking; and Web-based data management application Ground Traffic Control.

Zonar Systems solutions also allow clients to merge the functionality of Google Maps with map data from county or school GIS systems.