CPS buses to be safer, greener

CPS buses to be safer, greener
New technology makes it easier to track vehicles, tell where kids let off
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August 31, 2009

BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Staff Reporter/mihejirika@suntimes.com

When Chicago Public Schools students return to classes next week, they'll find their school buses have gone high-tech -- with newly installed remote GPS technology and in-vehicle mobile data terminals.

Along with a $1 million federal program that will retrofit all older buses in CPS' 1,600-bus fleet with clean-running technology in the next several months, the changes place the nation's third-largest school system on the cutting edge of safety and green technology.

Chicago school buses have been made greener and safer because of new technology, including being equipped with remote GPS and in-vehicle mobile data terminals.
(John H. White/Sun-Times file)

Only about 25 percent of school buses nationwide have the GPS and MDT technologies, the American School Bus Council estimates.

"The GPS system makes your routing significantly more efficient. With Chicago's implementing this on a large-scale basis, it should cut their mileage down considerably, right off the bat," said ASBC spokesman Bob Riley.

"It has a lot of benefits as far as safety for kids, in that the administration at the bus dispatch knows where the bus is at all times," he said. "And with the MDT, the biggest benefit would be with the special-needs population."

With the MDT, drivers can input information that tracks special-needs students as they board a bus or exit, reducing the potential for such students to be left behind, mistreated, or delivered to the wrong place -- as occurred last week on the first day of school in west suburban Plainfield, where a 6-year-old autistic boy was dropped off at the wrong school and found wandering alone three hours later.

"With the mobile data terminal, we'll be able to communicate with the buses instantly," said Francisco duPrey, CPS deputy general manager for transportation.

"When a parent calls and asks us when a bus picked up a child, we'll be able to see where and when the bus stopped, when it opened and closed its doors, and when the stop arm came out," he said. "We'll be able to respond to parents' inquiries about pick-ups and drop-offs with a great deal of precision."

In providing the upgrades to its school bus vendors, CPS is bucking the national trend. Transportation has been one of the hardest hit areas as cash-strapped school districts across the country struggle to cut spending.

In a recent survey by the American Association of School Administrators, 23 percent of districts said they were reducing or eliminating school bus transportation for the coming year as part of cost-cutting measures -- up from 14 percent last year.

CPS' Transportation Department budget remains steady this year, however, at $100 million, although 100 fewer buses are contracted from 20 primary school bus vendors. CPS hopes to recoup some of the costs of the new technology through greater fuel efficiency from less idling, streamlined routing, and better reporting on Medicare reimbursement for special-needs students.

The $1 million retrofitting is funded by an EPA program to bring older buses into compliance with new emissions and fuel economy standards. Newer buses, mostly hybrid, already meet the standards. And when the retrofitting is completed in December, 90 percent of the CPS fleet will have been brought into compliance, making it one of the cleanest and greenest in the country.

"If you have 1,600 buses going around the city on a daily basis, that's going to reduce significantly the air pollution," duPrey said.