Perils of the journey to school<\/b><\/p>\n
School buses are one of the primary means of transportation for students. Over 24 million students report using the 440,000 available public school buses each year. [<\/span>1<\/span><\/a>] However, students\u2019 safety is often at risk during this daily travel from home to school, and vice versa. Over 800 students die<\/span> and 152,000 are injured annually while traveling to and from school; this figure does not even include special trips or other school-related journeys. [<\/span>2<\/span><\/a>]<\/span> Safer transportation options for students must be presented, and one school district is stepping up to this call for action.<\/span><\/p>\n Leveraging <\/b>digitization to create<\/b> safer transportation for students<\/b><\/p>\n Serving roughly 7,000 students in Ohio, Youngstown City School District embarked on a mission this school year to \u201cenhance <\/span>safety and accountability\u201d in its transportation system. Their goal is simple: \u201cWe want to be able to account for every child, every day, on every bus at every bus stop, and to provide a safe bus.\u201d [<\/span>3<\/span><\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n To achieve this mission, the district has adopted two key pieces of technology. First, the district acquired the Tyler Telematic GPS system earlier this year. Built into each school bus, this technology integrates with the district\u2019s global positioning system. It showcases the location of each school bus and issues a \u201cdriver report card as far as their speed, their braking and their driving habits in general.\u201d [<\/span>3<\/span><\/a>] This can be used to monitor each bus driver and ensure safe driving behavior is rewarded and unsafe behavior is remedied. <\/span><\/p>\n The Tyler Telematic GPS system feeds into the Versatrans My Stop App, which the district launched during the summer. Through this smartphone application or its web browser equivalent, parents are able to look up a real-time estimated arrival time of a school bus at their designated bus stop by searching their child\u2019s name and date of birth. This will prevent children from waiting for a school bus without adult supervision for prolonged periods of time, which is critical because reports estimate that roughly 38 percent of \u201cattempted abductions\u201d occurred while a child was heading to school. [<\/span>5<\/span><\/a>] Furthermore, drivers have been given electronic tablets that specify the children to be picked up at each stop on their route. This enables drivers to account for their passengers and ensures children aren\u2019t accidentally on the wrong bus. <\/span><\/p>\n Are self-driving school buses the future? <\/b><\/p>\n While investing in current infrastructure to enhance safety is important, it\u2019s equally necessary to explore other recent developments such as autonomous vehicles. The Pew Research Center uncovered that 39 percent of parents were \u201cvery or somewhat enthusiastic about driverless vehicle development for school buses.\u201d [<\/span>6<\/span><\/a>]<\/span> Teague, a technology-focused design firm, developed a \u201cfuturistic self-driving pod\u201d to replace the modern school bus.<\/span><\/p>\n These pods are designed to combat the notorious \u201cdanger zone\u201d problem: students face the highest risk of injury when the bus is loading or unloading. In 2016, four students were killed in these accidents. [<\/span>7<\/span><\/a>] Self-driving pods are small and can only seat six students, but this is by design because the pods will drop students off right in front of their house. This eliminates the danger zone risk by preventing children from crossing the street at all. It also limits the fear of traditional kidnapping by dismantling the need for a \u201cbus stop and spoke-and-hub routing network.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Remembering the mission: safety<\/b><\/p>\n As the quest to improve the transportation process for students continues, the district should prioritize the safety of students, not the efficiency of transportation, as the primary mission. While autonomous vehicles sound ideal theoretically, they pose new risks, particularly concerns of cyber-security. These vehicles may be an \u201cirresistible target for a hacker . . . warns cyber security expert Eddie Schwartz.\u201d [<\/span>8<\/span><\/a>] Moreover, autonomous vehicles are currently being built for fair weather, and technologists have not discovered how to reliably operate in more tumultuous environments such as heavy rain, excess snow, or unpaved roads. <\/span><\/p>\n When evaluating transportation investment decisions going forward, the district should consider: <\/span><\/p>\n (Word Count: 719)<\/span><\/p>\n Citations<\/b><\/p>\n [1] Chen, Grace. \u201cIs Your Child Safe Riding Riding the Public School Bus?\u201d <\/span>Public School Review<\/span><\/i>, October 2017, [<\/span>URL<\/span><\/a>] accessed November 2017. <\/span><\/p>\n [2] \u201cSafety on The Way To School.\u201d Healthy Children Magazine, November 2015, [<\/span>URL<\/span><\/a>] accessed November 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n [3] Milliken, Peter. \u201cSchool bus technology enhances safety and accountability.\u201d <\/span>The Vindicator, June 2017. [<\/span>URL<\/span><\/a>] Accessed November 2017. <\/span><\/p>\n [4] Cortez, Meghan Bogardus. \u201cTechnology Optimizes School Bus Routes and Enhances Safety.\u201dEd Tech Magazine, September 2017. [<\/span>URL<\/span><\/a>] Accessed November 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n [5] Potts, Courtney. \u201cChild abduction: Kids most at risk going, returning from school.\u201d Utica Observer-Dispatch, October 2010. [<\/span>URL<\/span><\/a>] Accessed November 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n [6] Marshall, Aarian. \u201cWho\u2019s ready to put their kid on a self-driving school bus?\u201d Wired, November 2017. [<\/span>URL<\/span><\/a>] Accessed November 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n [7] McMahon, Thomas. \u201c4 Kids Killed in School Bus Danger Zone in 2015-16.\u201d School Bus Fleet, January 2017. [<\/span>URL<\/span><\/a>] Accessed November 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n\n