Special-needs bus involved in crash

Investigators who respond to the incident believe that as pickup truck driver Angela Brown approached a traffic signal on a highway’s off-ramp, she failed to stop, smashing into the rear of a police-owned Ford Fusion, and then striking the rear of the school bus as she continued on. One student on the bus is treated for a minor injury.

District issues tips for winter transportation safety

School district officials in Vernon, N.J., give guidance to the community to ensure that students stay safe while traveling to and from school in winter conditions. In addition to bus safety procedures for snowy weather, the guidance includes encouraging student drivers to take the bus home on days when there is an early dismissal.

Equipment Survey 2012

This survey is sent to directors and managers at school district transportation departments and school bus contractor companies. The survey covers equipment that's included on respondents' buses, such as GPS, lap-shoulder belts, cameras and student tracking systems.

Snapshots — Fall 2011/Winter 2012

STA offers discount on magnet bus service

The contractor offers the discount on its SchoolWheels program to families in Jacksonville, Fla., whose children attend magnet schools within Duval County Public Schools. The discount price applies for the remainder of the 2011-12 school year and comes to $5.48 per day, or $559 total.

System notifies parent when child enters or exits bus

ZPass+ from Zonar Systems provides the instant notifications via text message or e-mail, and parents can also access specific student rider information through a password-protected website. Officials say the new technology is especially useful for children walking to and from a bus stop, and for special-needs children.

Ohio district to use Versatrans product suite

Tyler Technologies has signed an agreement with Columbus City Schools to provide the district with its student transportation management solution. In addition to the core routing and planning product, the district selects many other Versatrans applications, including Onscreen for GPS and Triptracker.

Student Transportation boosts efficiency, business with cloud technology

With independenceIT’s Total Freedom Workspace, a cloud-based information technology infrastructure, officials say the school bus contractor allocates less than 1 percent of revenues to its information technology operations. In addition, the company can incorporate nearly 50 business applications into the cloud infrastructure, and it helps to streamline mergers and acquisitions, as well as audits.

Calif. DOE to offer transportation administration program

The course, scheduled for Jan. 9-13, is designed to provide guidance to first-time transportation administrators. Topics to be covered include certification of drivers, California Highway Patrol regulations and history, special-education and homeless student transportation, and school bus stops.

Student Transportation adds 700 vehicles in Wis. acquisition

The contractor expands into Wisconsin by acquiring Dairyland Bus Inc. and related companies, also adding more than $36 million in annualized revenues and five locations. Executive Mike Pjevach and his team will join Student Transportation Inc.