Parents,
Pal-Mac has introduced new technology to its school bus fleet to increase the safety of students and to improve communication about their location with a solution called Tyler Drive. This solution helps drivers focus on the road, manages student location information, and provides oversight of this important part of your child’s day.
Safer Driving
The Tyler Drive tablet mounted in each bus guides bus drivers with audio directions leading them to their scheduled stops. This eliminates traditional paper route sheets, and the distractions they cause when drivers try to read the directions to their next stop. The Tyler Drive tablet is mounted so that it does not block the driver’s view of the windshield or mirrors. This system makes it easier for bus drivers to keep both eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel. At each stop, the driver’s tablet displays the names and photos of students who should be boarding or exiting at that bus stop. Student data on the Tyler Drive tablet is secured using Advanced Encryption Standards, and erases when the driver logs out of the tablet at the conclusion of their runs. Pal-Mac bus drivers were trained on the system in the fall and are already using it now.
New Bus Passes
The new Tyler Drive system will also help improve management of student ridership. Beginning in March, 2019, each student in grades PreKindergarten through Grade 5 will be assigned a new bus pass and be asked to tap the bus pass on a card scanner each time they board and leave a school bus. The card scan system helps to ensure the security of every child. Knowledge of where and when a student boarded or left a bus allows the district to proactively manage their safety, address concerns, and prevent errors such as students boarding the wrong bus.
Some things for parents to know about the new bus passes...
★ New bus passes will be supplied by the school district and distributed at school. School staff will insert the new bus pass into the plastic sleeve alongside students’ existing handwritten bus tags.
★ The new bus passes will be attached to a retractable holder so that students can tap the Tyler Drive scanner when they board and exit a bus.
★ District staff will provide students instruction on scanning their bus passes.
★ No student information is stored on the bus pass. Each new bus pass holds one random number that can only be recognized by Pal-Mac’s secure Tyler Drive system.
★ If a student forgets or loses their bus pass, the bus driver is able to register them manually on the tablet.
If you have any questions, please call the Transportation Department at 315-597-3400 x1.