First Student Bus to Add Cameras/GPS/Drivers To Alleviate Parent Concerns

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - First Student Bus Company is taking action when it comes to improving communication between drivers, students and parents.

Over the last couple of weeks, WTOC has been receiving quite a few phone calls from parents in the Savannah-Chatham School District who claim they are having problems with First Student Bus Company.

First Student Bus manager Randy Samples is working hard to make some changes to improve communication.

First is with a new high tech GPS tracking system.

"Our capability of actually finding a bus versus what we were doing six months ago is at least 100 percent better than it was because of using this system on the bus," said Samples.

Meaning if a bus is late or doesn't show up, with a click of the mouse, Samples can find where that bus went that day tracking the drivers route..how fast the driver was going and when the bus was turned on and off.

"The parent will call and say the bus was not here at this time, once I actually access the path, this is the path around the county that the bus traveled," Samples pointed out.

And then there are the new high tech cameras.

The bus company has 50 buses with the new camera system, two cameras, one in the back and one in the front of the bus, so they can see what both the kids and the driver.

"It gives us more flexibility and vision on the entire bus both audio and video," Samples explained. "It also shows the braking of the driver, so if we've got an issue when we have a complaint we can see if the driver is doing what they are properly trained to do."

Samples is pretty confident this new technology will help address any school bus related concerns tracking them every step of the way.

First Student also hired 25 more drivers for the school year. For more information or to apply visit www.firststudentinc.com/news&id=42.