New Hartford — New Hartford Central School District transportation director Scott Gaffney recently revealed some cutting-edge technological advancements that will soon become standard equipment on district buses.
In a Tuesday, Jan. 17 presentation to the school district’s board of education, Gaffney briefed board members on upcoming improvements, including an upgrade to their routing software that will allow drivers to access an up-to-date map of the district’s streets.
“There will be safer turn-by-turn directions because there will be no need to look at documents,” Gaffney said.
A single-server system rather than a multi-server system also means that multiple routes can be managed more efficiently at the same time using the new technology. New GPS units installed on buses will transmit their location at all times, allowing the buses to be tracked so that the transit department knows where the bus is at any given time during a run.
Point-of-care diagnostics will also be a new maintenance asset, providing reports on what is happening within the bus operating system. There will be paperless computer-based field trip planning, allowing for every step from the initial application of field trip recommendations to final reporting when the children return to school. Paperless inspection reports and record keeping of those reports will also be possible in the near future, Gaffney said.
He added that bus drivers could even conveniently sign in and out directly on the bus.
Parents will likely be most pleased with the upcoming new app, which will be able to tell them when the bus is likely to arrive at each stop. Gaffney said he expects the new technology to be up and running by July.
After the presentation, District Superintendent Cosimo Tangorra Jr. praised Gaffney for his efforts in coordinating current operations and moving the transportation sector into the future. “Scott wasn’t just being humble — it was a lot harder than he said,” Tangola said.
For more information on the New Hartford Central School District Transportation Department, please call 315-624-1239 or visit www.newhartfordschools.org.
