Do your children go to school regularly by taking a school bus? And do you know what is happening during their travel to and from your home to school?
Parents and school administrators are increasingly more concerned about their children’s safety while in transport. That is why many companies are developing innovative school transportation monitoring system that focuses on children’s safety while they are in transport.
So we have put together information on how a typical journey of a school bus runs to understand it better.
Daily Vehicle Check up
Before the school bus driver begins their journey picking up the children, they should strictly conduct a standard routine check up of the vehicle starting from the exterior and all throughout the interior.
For the exterior, they should be checking the radiator water level, engine oil level, brake fluid, tire pressure, brake and tail lights. Check the interiors such as the seats if they’re still intact and bolted tightly, and also check for broken or cracked windows and look for any left items.
This routine check is to ensure that the school bus will still be reliable and safe. And also, to avoid any breakdowns or accidents while on its route. Once the routine check up is done, the vehicle is now ready to start picking up the children.
Departs For Picking Up
Now that the school bus is on route to pick up the children, the school bus driver has to make sure to keep up with the schedule. Otherwise, all of the students will be arriving late at the school.
But there are some circumstances that drivers can no longer control and its time, like for an instance, if one or two students are late for scheduled pick up time. The driver will have to give time in waiting for these children to arrive until it reaches a maximum time of waiting. It’s only by then, the driver can decide to go on his way again and leave without the children.
All these processes will cause delay and the worst part is the students on board will unexpectedly be late for their classes.
Traffic On Route
When the bus is on its way picking up children, there is also a greater chance that it can get caught up in traffic. Then children who are still waiting to be picked up at the bus stop will have to wait for even longer. Without knowing for certain what time the bus will arrive and how much more longer they may need to wait.
While on the bus, children could start getting restless and start to play around. Sooner or later everything can get chaotic and leaving the school bus driver in a dilemma on how to make them all stop and be settled. Imagine what a school bus driver has to put up with if this would be on a regular basis.
Route Diversion
If the school bus is stuck in the traffic, another one of the driver’s responsibility is to get out from that traffic. The driver has to think of an alternative way to get back the lost time of being stuck in the traffic and arrive faster at the school.
Then, the driver needs to communicate with the school administrators to inform that the school bus will be behind from its schedule and the children will be late. This problem will cause a domino effect but on the losing end will be the school children.
The best way to effectively avoid these instances is to efficiently plan ahead with an optimised route and to create an alternate route just in case there is an unexpected traffic jam on its regular route.
Modern Transport Management System
There are modern transport management systems available today that are specially designed for school buses. They have the capabilities of tracking and recording in real time the vehicles, send direct messages to parents and school administrators of passenger information and automatically create reports.
Whether the schools operate their own vehicles or use a third party company for transporting their school children, this system can be fitted to any vehicles. School Travel Manager is one such company that offers this innovative school transport management system. If you’re interested to know more details about School Travel Manager then contact us today. Our expert team will be happy to assist you and explain what the system can do for you.