Hanover delivering bus GPS to parents

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This article was published 01/11/2017 (2389 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Hanover School Division plans to introduce a new tool that will let parents and students know exactly where their school bus is, and when it will arrive to pick them up.

“We already have GPS technology in the buses, but we want to let parents use that technology to make getting to the buses safer and more convenient,” HSD director of transportation Robert Warkentin said.

With GPS technology installed on all of HSD’s 86 school buses, the division is now working on blending that technology with the HSD Parent Portal, which was introduced at the start of this school year and lets parents go online and get access to student information such as attendance, school fees and report cards.

Warkentin said the division is now working to have that GPS information available to parents through the Parent Portal system. Once the system is up and running parents will be able to log onto their Parent Portal accounts and see in real-time exactly where their kid’s school bus is, and when it is arriving at their stop.

Warkentin said the service will be beneficial because it will provide convenience for parents of HSD students who use the buses, but also because it will make waiting for HSD buses safer.

“From a safety standpoint it will allow parents to know exactly where the bus is,” he said. “We know the really cold weather is coming and if we have a bus break down or a delay of even a few minutes that can be dangerous if it’s extremely cold outside.”

Warkentin added HSD now hopes to have the GPS information available on the HSD Parent Portal by the end of this year or early in 2018.

With the safety of students who take the bus being a priority for Warkentin, he said the division is also working to increase that safety through cameras that were installed on more than 20 division buses earlier this year, and can catch drivers who don’t stop when a bus has its stop sign out and red lights flashing.

Warkentin said that since the camera program started this school year they have already submitted approximately 10 offenses to RCMP, and had another approximately 12 offenses that were not submitted for different reason including license plates that were not legible.

Warkentin said he hopes that with the cameras HSD can get the word out that not stopping for a school bus when red lights are flashing is unacceptable.

“When it happens it puts the kids in a dangerous situation,” Warkentin said.