State will outfit old buses with GPS
School officials say devices could boost efficiency, safety
By Mindy Hagen
School officials say devices could boost efficiency, safety
The Post and Courier
Some of the more than 500 new buses that were bought statewide this year, with funds set aside in the 2007-08 budget, are seen parked Wednesday at the bus depot in North Charleston.
South Carolina's aging school bus fleet will receive a $1.7 million infusion in the coming months, but the money won't go toward purchasing new vehicles.
Instead, state Department of Education officials are buying global positioning system devices and will install them on all 5,700 school buses by the end of 2007. The goal is to increase safety and efficiency by using the systems to monitor bus routes and ensure that drivers are following designated routes rather than veering off course, which wastes fuel and causes students to arrive late at school.
The devices will cost $298 per bus, for a total of $1.7 million to outfit the state's entire fleet. The same money could pay for 21 school buses, with each new vehicle estimated to cost $80,000.
South Carolina operates the oldest, most polluting and least safe fleet in the nation, the Post and Courier reported in March. The three-day series revealed that many of the state's buses were built in 1984 and 1985 and are still on the roads transporting children to and from school. Some buses have logged more than 400,000 miles.
After a decade of failed attempts, state lawmakers passed legislation in the spring requiring a 15-year school bus replacement cycle. Roughly 380 new buses will be purchased each year through the replacement cycle. More than 500 new buses were bought this year with funds set aside in the 2007-08 budget.
State Rep. Bob Walker, chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee, was the lead sponsor of the bus replacement cycle law. Walker, a Landrum Republican, said Tuesday he realizes existing buses need new technology. But he also said the GPS purchase could make it hard to persuade lawmakers to allocate more funds to buy new buses in the future.
"It will make it tough on us to fight to get extra dollars when they tell us they need extra dollars," Walker said. "The (replacement cycle) by no means solves the problem of our state's old buses. At best, we can only say now that we got 1/15th of the problem solved this year."
Education Department officials say the $1.7 million is money left over from the 2006-07 fiscal year and that spending the funds on GPS won't take money away from purchasing even more buses to help replace some of the most unreliable vehicles still on the road. Instead, the devices could result in a net savings for the transportation division, officials said.
If information from the GPS devices leads school districts to alter bus routes and ends up reducing each route by one mile per day, the devices could result in saving $2 million in fuel costs in two years, said Donald Tudor, the department's transportation director. Making bus drivers more aware of avoiding fast acceleration could save one gallon of fuel per day per bus, leading to $1.9 million in fuel savings.
Doug Hamrick, the state's assistant director for district transportation services, said the device will appear on each bus as a "black box" enclosed in a covered panel. Bus shops across the state will receive data from the units and download the information roughly every two weeks, he said. The device could show that a certain bus encounters too much traffic or blocked intersections every day, and that information could help officials decide to change the route so that the bus bypasses trouble spots.
"While $300 per bus may seem like a substantial sum of money," Hamrick said, "I'd think that any taxpayer in this state would want us to utilize this type of technology and eventually reduce our costs."
Charleston officials have examined adding GPS devices to the district's buses for the last five years, said Katie McClure, the district's contracts administrator, but have been deterred by the cost. The new units provided by the state will become part of the district's larger effort to upgrade technology on school buses, she said.
Digital cameras pointed at the front door and back of the bus already have been installed on nearly 200 vehicles, and McClure said she also hopes the GPS technology will allow officials to start a student identification system. That system would keep track of every student that gets on and off the bus each day.
Reach Mindy B. Hagen at 937-5433 or mhagen@postandcourier.com.
E-mail this story
Printer-friendly versionComments
mac0cm4 (anonymous) says...
I think it'd be nice to see which students get on and off the bus. Then we can triple-bill the families that drive their kids to school and give a tax cut to the rest that have to sit in the additional traffic.
It's aggravating to know that we pay for all those busses, yet you still see the traffic jam near the schools as all the parents drive their little darlings to and from school. Perhaps a nice bill would encourage them to use the busses the rest of us pay for. It'd save fuel too.
August 22, 2007 at 3:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
BobH1962 (anonymous) says...
Why am I not surprised to see the money that is allocated to NEW buses being used for other things besides NEW buses? Obviously these people don't have children that ride the buses to and from school on these ancient buses. And how exactly is a GPS system on a 20 year old bus going to transport my children to school if the bus breaks down? Are the people that allocate this money so ignorant to see that our children's safety is compromised with the aging bus fleet or do they just not care? Obviously they didn't read the Post and Courier articles last year about the horrible state of the aged South Carolina school bus fleet.
August 22, 2007 at 3:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
meggettcitizen (anonymous) says...
Mac0cm4, Get real.....If you use the bus you should pay for the bus. Some parents take there kids to school on there way to work so that they can get there safely instead of riding a bus that doesnt have seatbelts. They need to spend that money on seat belting all of the busses.
August 22, 2007 at 6:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
karmann (anonymous) says...
Once again our elected leaders show the ability to avoid the obvious and promote the misuse of money. I guess that is why we elect them to their positions.
August 22, 2007 at 7:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bribetaker (anonymous) says...
How does a GPS device show you the shortest route? Can't Mapquest and good 'ol experience already tell you that?
But the bigger question is who is going to analyze the data from 5,700 black boxes? How many people are we going to have to hire to comb thru the mountain of data I'm sure these things spit out? Technology is great but sometimes simpler is better.
August 22, 2007 at 7:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
underdog (anonymous) says...
@bribetaker, great point...
I have 1 13yo in my house who got to school late or came home late (or I had to pick him up) about 10 times last school year due to bus breakdown.
Like Bob said, the GPS doesn't serve much of a purpose when the bus breaks down.
Come to think of it, don't all of the bus drivers carry government-issued cell phones, and are there not GPS-tracking cell phones available? Am I being too reasonable?
August 22, 2007 at 8 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Nonni (anonymous) says...
I had a child that rode the bus all her life until the 10th grade, when some kid thought he could help himself to a handful of her behind...after that I drove her and then she drove herself. There are alot more problems out there than just GPS, old buses and traffic. I am glad that both of my children are no longer subjected to the daily routine of riding the bus and am still hoping that things get better for those that do. No child anywhere should have to worry, nor should their parents, about being on the bus. SC really doesn't seem to place any value on education, so what makes the school bus fleet problem any different?
August 22, 2007 at 8:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kingsacura (anonymous) says...
mac0cm4 get real you are stuck in traffic. Why are these parents taking their kids to school????????
The bus is unsafe. I should send them a bill for all the gas I use because I have to take my child to school. 1/2 of the time the bus never shows because it broke down or the driver never showed up. I am not going to let my child sit around a bus stop 1/2 a mile down the road for god known's how long waiting for a bus to show so a freak can grab her.
August 22, 2007 at 8:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
native1 (anonymous) says...
I am glad to have read this article. I am moving soon and definitely going to buy a house where my children can WALK to school. If the fleet is the "worst in the nation", putting GPS gadgets on the bus fleet (instead of fixing the inherent problem) is irresponsible at this point. This is Charleston, not Los Angeles. If the driver can't learn or remember his/her route, or read a map, he/she shouldn't be driving the bus.
August 22, 2007 at 8:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
billyoblog (anonymous) says...
I once went into a 7-11 for a pack of smokes. With tax, the total was $5.04. When I reached in my pocket, I pulled out a ten dollar bill and some change. I told the cashier that I had change, to which he smiled and said thanks. I then handed the cashier $10.08, which he entered into the register. It took him five full minutes to figure out why $5.04 was still being dislayed on his register.
Somehow, I can see this same type of scenario playing itself out with school bus drivers and GPS units. Enter the wrong waypoint and the kids end up in Texas.
August 22, 2007 at 9:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
native1 (anonymous) says...
OR perhaps the GPS units are not for the drivers, but a "bus central command" where it can be seen where a bus is at any given time. That way, when it breaks down, it can remedied quickly. (just a thought)
AND so every year we get 1/15 of the fleet replaced.....in the meantime we can put GPSs in and squeeze every last mile outta these old vehicles before we have to buy new ones.
??
August 22, 2007 at 10:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mac0cm4 (anonymous) says...
Waaaaaa the bus is unsafe...waaaa. So screw the rest of the area and congest the roads even more. Why should the rest of us pay for busses you don't even use? You should foot the bill for that, not us - it's not your fault you don't trust them. If they're unsafe, affect change, go to the school board meetings.
August 22, 2007 at 11:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kingsacura (anonymous) says...
mac0cn4
I don't think you were hugged enough as a child. I pay for the dam bus also. I have called to the school, went to the school and all I am ever told is we are not in charge of transportation. As far as the bus driver not showing up I was told we don't get the cream of the crop. Makes me want to throw my kid on the bus. What you are whining about will be paying your SS in the future. You should be glad they are getting an education. Find another route to work
August 22, 2007 at 12:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
crazyacres (anonymous) says...
I don't know about our congressman. They want you to vote yes for the education lottery to suppurt education. HaHa. It could be used to build new and renovate schools.Provide the things our chidren need in school. Instead of them becoming sales man for the schools. And buy new improved busses. -1.7 million for Gps on outdated buses. It will save fuel. Those antques we have as busses waist more fuel,leak more oil and the pollution.The only way they will save fuel is when they are sitting on the side of the road waiting to be fixed. They don't care about our children because there children are in private schools that there parents take them to in there personal vehicles.
August 22, 2007 at 4:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammer (anonymous) says...
GPS's, another distraction added to the already 60 that ride the bus for the driver to pay attention too... what a waste of money, they'll have to pay for the install as well
boneheads in the CCSD, "lets look up to date and technologically advanced, ahemmmm how do you turn this thing on again?" lol .... ahhhhh another grateful day that I moved out of that county
you should probably use that money to hire better teachers and then give them the capability to kick trouble making kids out of class
August 22, 2007 at 8:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mrsmomofthree (anonymous) says...
I wouldn't let my children ride on those buses. They are a nightmare. I work in the school district and those buses are not well managed. There needs to be more adults on the bus. When you have 30 screaming kids what makes you think one adult can keep them under control and drive and talk on their cell phone.
August 22, 2007 at 9:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hawneena (anonymous) says...
I am so glad that my kids are finished with their primary educations.
I agree with the person/people that mentioned seatbelts. It is the law and yet they have not put them in buses yet.
Seatbelts save lives, but GPS's are a luxury. Why don't they get their priorities straight.
August 23, 2007 at 12:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Postandcourier.com is pleased to offer readers the enhanced ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Postandcourier.com does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website.
Users can now build user-to-user connections, follow friends' recent posts, add an avatar that fits their personality, and more. If you have posted here before you'll need to sign up again, or if you've never posted before, start now by signing up!
Full terms and conditions can be read here.
Thank you for your interest in this story. The comment thread for this article has been closed.
- Most Commented
- Most Emailed
- S.C. losing port traffic to other states
- Out with old ...
- Water — 'The smell is gone'
- Cart gives Buddy new lease on life
- Schools plan to update visitor-security system
- GenPhar site 'red-tagged'
- Off campus
- Man, 17, killed in motorcycle wreck
- New drug may hold promise for lupus sufferers
- Historic manor house used by Girl Scouts is among buildings that might be torn down to make way for future
