Challenges

Key Areas of Risk to School Children..

The safety record of the school bus transportation industry reflects a deep commitment to effective vehicle and operational standards. Parents, school officials, law enforcement and many other community stakeholders have growing concerns however, that children are put at risk each day when traveling between their home and school.

The threats include being run over by their own school bus when entering or exiting the bus. The threats include the inappropriate behavior of others when traveling as a passenger. This could include for example bullying, verbal abuse, assault, drugs and even bringing weapons on board. Another very serious threat is created by vehicle drivers who put children at risk, by illegally passing a school bus that has stopped with red lights flashing and stop arm deployed.

A Global Problem…

News reports from around the world confirm that the issue of school bus safety and onboard violence are international problems. Children run over by their own buses and stop-arm violators plague educators and law enforcement officials in countries such as Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Israel, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore and India. Children in these and other countries are also vulnerable to onboard violence from fellow students. World affairs during the past two decades have given rise to threats from ideological fanatics and international terrorists who see school buses as 'soft' targets.

AlertStar operates within the safety and security industry with a focus on the issues surrounding the daily transportation of children on school buses.

The North American school bus transportation system is one of the largest transportation systems in the world:

Budget Constraints…

Just as school districts around the globe are struggling with the problems of stop-arm violations, onboard violence and student-bus accidents, so too are they struggling to find the financial resources to pay for the technology and personnel needed to provide adequate protection and facilitate the prosecution of offenders.

Many school districts are in a vise created by the skyrocketing price of diesel fuel and constantly rising energy costs. School buses average about 10 miles per gallon. Add to that the cost of oil and maintenance and schools are facing a situation of ever-diminishing returns.

School officials from Tennessee in the United States to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates are eliminating bus routes, charging transportation fees, turning to private bus companies and trimming staff to compensate for the escalating costs associated with doing business. Some school districts are turning to alternative fuel buses in an attempt to compensate in an environmentally friendly fashion. Others are consolidating bus stops while several school districts in California are proposing eliminating their bus fleets to meet statewide budget cuts mandated by the governor.

While school officials are hesitant to make any changes that will lessen student safety, the reality is that school resources are more finite than ever and the technology needed to outfit school buses could hundreds of dollars for a single onboard camera to thousands of dollars for stop-arm and onboard cameras. A school district with 450 buses would probably require voter approval of a bond issue to afford such an expenditure.

Onboard police officers who monitor student behavior and record the license plates of stop-arm violators is a luxury that many municipalities cannot afford on a consistent basis because of personnel needs elsewhere.

School bus drivers must focus on the safety of the children and often are not in a position to safely divert their attention to manually record the information necessary for issuing a citation and successful prosecution. School districts, politicians, parents and others responsible for the safety of children on school buses are looking for new ways to effectively address these issues amid rising operational costs and dwindling resources.

Harsh Environments…

Geography plays a major role in how well cameras inside and outside school buses perform as well as in the life of the equipment. School buses operate in all types of weather. Intense desert heat, frigid winters, humidity and precipitation all impact the accuracy and longevity of all school bus equipment. Add to this the climate inside the bus - many do not have air conditioning - the vibration of the bus created by road conditions, and it is clear that the technology behind the cameras must be as durable as it is accurate.

Heat, cold, vibration, vandalism, humidity, and even the number of daylight hours all challenge these systems on a daily basis - and a robust design is required to withstand the environment over a long period of time. School district officials have repeatedly indicated that many systems simply do not withstand the harsh environment for a prolonged period of time.

Companies have developed and school districts have tested stop-arm camera systems to address the problem. Inside camera systems are used in many districts across America. Some are old VHS style recorders that can be unreliable and difficult to maintain.

Difficulties in Enforcement…

Stop-arm violations present a serious problem that unfortunately is difficult to prosecute. Unless a police officer happens to witness the incident, violators rarely are brought to justice. Communities often have week-long public awareness campaigns. Others put police officers on buses at various times of the school year. Unfortunately, these are generally short term and expensive solutions to problems that occur all year long. Bus drivers regularly attempt to record license plate numbers and vehicle descriptions to send to police for enforcement, but rarely do these ever result in much more than the offender receiving a warning letter.

Incidents on board the bus, very often turn into a "he said, she said" scenario whereby the truth about the cause and actions during an incident is rarely verified.

Independent Systems…

The biggest challenge facing school districts is the fact that all of the current technologies are independent of each other and must be installed separately, maintained separately, and operated independently.

To date, no one has designed a fully integrated, end-to-end solution to address all of the three key areas of risk (stop-arm violators, student monitoring, and student warning).

That is, until now…

The AlertStar 'smart' bus system is designed to help address these critical issues in a fully integrated, fully automated, secure, expandable, and reliable system.

Our system is designed with industrial grade equipment to ensure reliability in a harsh environment. All information is secure and encrypted to protect privacy and only school officials and the police have access to the video from the inside of the bus.

Violator Pays Model…

Under a revenue share contract with local government, violators who endanger children by illegally passing a stop-arm, pay for all the costs associated with the design, equipment, installation, operation, and the maintenance of the system.

It’s a win-win for the children – and the community!

Funds are also allocated to the Children’s Community Safety Foundation to support other community safety initiatives designed to help protect children