When I first was hired in Oneida County, New York, in 1974, the County Executive I worked for told me to remember two things, one of which is the focus of this article. I have tried to live by it ever since: “If there is bad news or there are hard decisions needing my attention, […]
By Peter Mannella Several years ago, at an annual conference I was planning in New York, I invited a guest speaker who specialized in child and family social trends and conditions. My intention was for her to share information with the pupil transportation professionals in the room about the children who get our attention […]
Today “safety” has taken on a new meaning and school transportation safety standards are evolving in response to COVID-19 and social distancing guidelines. If you are just looking, seriously considering, or comparing alternative school transportation solutions, there are key product and service features that make all the difference. We share the ways in which we […]
School BUSRide spoke with Elisa Hanley, branch manager with the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), about the most pressing issues in her state; how the Kentucky Department of Education responded to 2020’s challenges, and her thoughts regarding the best path forward. What are the most pressing issues facing student transportation in Kentucky? The number one […]
As the director of transportation for East Irondequoit Central School District, Kathleen Callon is responsible for a school district transportation department running approximately 100 buses and servicing three different school districts in the Rochester, New York area: East Irondequoit, West Irondequoit, and East Rochester. Between the three districts, Callon’s department transports approximately 4,000 students, running […]
Thirty miles east of Indianapolis, with 1,150 students split between two elementary schools and two combination junior high schools, Shelby Eastern Schools provides transportation to approximately 950 students each day across 18 bus routes. When Katrina Falk, director of transportation, arrived at Shelby Eastern Schools, she was not a stranger to implementing best routing practices. […]
By Tim Ammon Congratulations: you are making it through the pandemic. Now you get the opportunity to begin thinking about how the pandemic-related economic disruption will start impacting your budget. You will be doing this in the context of school re-starts, expanding service expectations, and pent-up frustrations with lockdowns, shutdowns, and schedule changes. Faced with […]
As professionals, we sometimes need to take things into our own hands and work together to make things happen. Often that’s how things actually get done in our world. Many of our state associations are engaged in advocacy for school bus legislation and funding. One of the states that has been active in advocating for […]
Michael LaRocco reflects on his tenure I recently finished my two-year tenure as president of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), an organization comprised of state and national leaders which provides leadership, assistance and motivation to the nation’s school transportation community with the goal of providing safe, secure, efficient, economical, […]
School officials in New York are singing the praises of new routing technology powered by Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO). Transfinder, since 1988 a developer in routing, scheduling, and fleet maintenance solutions, released the first major overhaul of its flagship routing software in Spring. Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella said that Routefinder PLUS – Transfinder’s […]