NAPT® is launching NAPT ACTS!

By Emma Green

The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) is co-launching an educational streaming service with the Center for Effective School Operations’ (CESO) Rethink EDU platform.

The new web portal will provide school transportation and education-related content created to help manage the current and future challenges of K-12 transportation.


Over the next 40 weeks, NAPT plans to offer curated content featuring federal and state policymakers, safety and health professionals, education leaders, union officials, human resource experts and more.

Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella said that Routefinder PLUS – Transfinder’s newest routing solution – is faster, safer, and smarter than previous solutions. After using PLUS during the global pandemic, school transportation officials are sharing their perspectives.

The platform offers professional development combined with social networking for the K-12 industry market space where users will be able to interact with speakers and industry supporters and ask questions in real time.

“It’s like Hulu or Netflix,” said Luke Frederick, CESO director of innovation, but with professional development content.”

Like Hulu, Netflix, and other similar streaming services, the platform will offer content management options that can identify a user’s “most popular” or “highest rated” content and offer personalized recommendations. The platform will also allow users to create their own channels focusing on individual interests, such as training, data utilization, or vehicle and equipment maintenance.

NAPT alone has committed to creating at least 40 timely and unique educational sessions that will be offered in one a week increments, available live or on demand. According to Martin, ACTS will eventually have hundreds of webinar options.  The content NAPT is creating in 2021 will hopefully be a springboard for others, particularly the association’s vendor partners, to create supplemental and/or complementary content that will give subscribers the option to take a deep dive on almost any subject.

NAPT is already working with several of its business partners to create specific channels where users can access that company’s specially created webinars, presentations, and supplemental materials.

“Vendors are often not invited to participate in conversations because they are perceived as just trying to sell something,” Martin said. “What we want to do is make sure the consumers on this platform understand that many vendors are actually experts. They have a depth and breadth of experience that is unmatched because they work in so many different places and with so many different districts and contractors.”

NAPT ACTS! will be offered as a subscription service with NAPT members receiving a deeply discounted annual rate that provides access to the entirety of the content. Non-members will be able to purchase monthly packages with the option to convert to an annual subscription if they become NAPT members.

“We’re trying to make it incredibly affordable,” Martin said, “even for non-members of NAPT.”

The platform is set to tentatively launch in January with a variety of keynotes and presentations readily available to users.

NAPT and CESO will host an industry-wide webinar on Dec. 15 introducing consumers to the product. The webinar will feature Martin and Frederick discussing the platform, demonstrating how to navigate the service and a review of the basic infrastructure. To register for the webinar please visit the events calendar on the NAPT website. (www.napt.org).