The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

Zetron Integrator RD Provides Instant Access to School Bus Fleet With external threats from terrorism, as well as acts of violence by troubled students, the need for school security and crisis planning is greater today than ever. In response to these concerns, the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) collaborated with several federal agencies to develop a set of guidelines entitled “Top 25 Security Program Action Items, School Bus Operations.” These guidelines cover all aspects of school bus operations ranging from management and facilities to personnel considerations. Clearly called out in their equipment recommendations are the following two actionable items: “15. Equip all buses with two-way communication.” “17. Install video surveillance, GPS, door locks and other equipment as needed and permitted by state law. Train employees in proper use.” Two-way lifeline: A two-way communication system linking bus drivers to a central dispatch is arguably one of the most fundamental and cost-effective measures a school district can undertake. In addition to security concerns, school bus systems require the same type of fleet management as any commercial carrier. To accomplish this, two-way wireless radio communications are usually chosen over mobile and cellular telephones for a number of important reasons. With radio, there are no attendant airtime charges, which allows for frequent location updates critically important to school bus fleet managers in order to accurately capture all route and stop information. Because schools are in fixed locations with established bus routes, a well-designed radio system, using either conventional or trunked radio can provide 100 percent coverage without the “dead zones” commonly suffered by cellular telephones in urban and built-up areas. Moreover, a private radio system is 100 percent under the control of the school district, which then gets to decide which calls are priority and which are not. If security is a primary concern, then ownership is practically mandatory. A typical school bus fleet can be effectively controlled by a central communications center where radio consoles dispatch and communicate with a large or small fleet of school buses. A fleet communications system consisting of a trunked radio system, some modern console equipment, and a state of the art AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) system, provides a heretofore-unachievable level of safety and control for school bus operators. Grand Prairie Texas: Located in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the Grand Prairie Independent School District (ISD) covers four counties and serves a population of 150,000. “We dispatch for 34 schools and we’re running 49 bus routes,” says Steve Levering, Director of Transportation, “We have triple stagger, so each bus will run three different runs.” As one might imagine, controlling and coordinating that many buses is a complex task. However, when Levering first joined the district four years ago the existing communications system left a lot to be desired. “Our equipment was 22 years old and was totally antiquated,” Levering says. “We had a hodge podge of hand-held radios. Some were VHF. Some were UHF. Some were two-watt. Some were four-watt. Some were even walkie-talkies from Radio Shack. They broke down constantly. I looked at the soaring repair costs and decided we could do better.” Previously, Levering had worked for the Alief Independent School District. They had implemented their own communications system, which had been a great success. With that experience as a basis, when a school bond passed and funds became available, Levering began seeking bids on the new radio system. When DFW Communications of Fort Worth tendered the winning bid, engineers from the company began a series of planning sessions with Levering and other representatives from the school district. Communications for the 21st Century: After determining a template for the various talk groups, DFW Communications designed and engineered a complete radio communications system that brought the Grand Prairie ISD solidly into the new millennium. “We put in a 6-channel LTR® trunked radio system,” says Bill Kennedy, an account executive with DFW Communications, Inc. “We also put in an AVL system made by CES Wireless that uses its own PC. We replaced a whole bunch of mobiles and portables. Finally we installed two Zetron IntegratorRD workstations. One is located in Facilities Maintenance, and the other is used by Transportation.” The Grand Prairie ISD covers an elongated territory squeezed in between the Cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. The LTR trunked radio system provides full coverage for the roughly 100 square miles spread over 8 counties. The IntegratorRD IIWS (Intelligent Integrated Workstations) are located at the transportation building in Grand Prairie. In addition to the Transportation dispatch, the building also houses all auxiliary services, including food service, maintenance and operations, custodial areas, a warehouse and a lot where the bus fleet is parked. DFW Communications, Inc. supplied and installed two Zetron IntegratorRD workstations. Currently, the IntegratorRD workstations are controlling a total of eight to ten channels on each console. Four channels are displayed on the main screen at any one time, but operators have the ability to change channels should the need arise. Advanced features: The Zetron IntegratorRD’s were chosen for their many advanced features, including MDC signaling. Director Levering had determined that the MDC 1200 signaling set offered many important security features for the school bus fleet, such as individual unit ID numbers. “We definitely needed a system with an ID,” Levering says. “So if someone is speaking on a select channel, they know exactly who they’re speaking to. Plus, if we get into an emergency situation we’ll be able to turn off the radios we don’t want to hear and lock in the radios we want to be able to communicate with. We also like the recording capabilities of the console. That’s extremely important. After an emergency we can refer back to the log and that information is admissible evidence in a court of law.” The MDC 1200 feature set also provides a man-down or “panic button” feature for the drivers, and allows system operators to disable a radio if it is stolen. “One of the features of the radio system than can be implemented from the IntegratorRD console is an “all-call” feature,” Kennedy adds. “No matter what channel the different groups are on, pressing the all-call button on the console automatically keys every users’ radio to receive an emergency message.” Bus 54 where are you? AVL in every bus helps dispatchers track buses and determine delays, as well as offering yet another layer of protection against emergency situations. “Safety and security is our number one issue,” Levering restates. “If we have an emergency on a bus, we have built in parameters so that, should a bus not move for a set amount of time, it flashes on the AVL screen. We then know to contact the bus via the console system. It we receive no response, we have several options: send a supervisor, have another bus drive by to check things out, or call 9-1-1 and have law enforcement respond.” The AVL system is also invaluable for preparing state reports on vehicle activity and history, and provides another level of documentation. Future plans: Training on the new consoles was provided for the Grand Prairie ISD by several employees of DFW Communications including Bill Kennedy, Tim Driscoll and Patrick McSweeney. “We’re very proud of our system,” Levering says. It’s made our people more accessible and it’s made our operators’ jobs easier, since for the first time we have clear communications.” Levering wanted to stress that the system came about as the result of team effort and thanked a number of people including his assistant Phil Gurke as well Dr. Red Whiddon, Executive Director of Auxiliary Services and Construction, Phil Jimerson, Assistant Superintendent of Facilities and Operations, and Dr. David Barbosa, School District Superintendent, who were all instrumental in putting this advanced system together. Article provided by Zetron