Q&A
GPS tracking implementation on school buses
1:44:58
·
77 sec
Council Member Rita Joseph inquires about the implementation of GPS tracking on school buses, as mandated by local law 3298 of 2019. John Benson, representing the Office of Pupil Transportation, confirms that GPS devices are now installed on all buses, although the process took longer than anticipated due to the complexity and scale of NYC's school bus operations.
- GPS technology is now available on every bus in the NYC school system
- Implementation faced challenges due to the size and complexity of the operation (50+ contracts, 10,000 routes, 140,000 students)
- The rollout process involved multiple stages of piloting and expansion
Rita Joseph
1:44:58
Thank you.
1:44:58
Just wanna quickly follow-up real quick on the GPS.
1:45:01
So this would be opportunity to dispel dispel all the myths.
1:45:05
Right?
1:45:06
So the GPS tracking is a local law of 3298 2019, has there been a delay or all of the GPS have been put on the buses?
John Benson
1:45:16
They're all on the buses as of now.
1:45:18
I'll I'll be honest.
1:45:19
It took longer than we had hoped it would.
1:45:22
We did not have a a playbook, so to speak to work off of.
1:45:25
As we've explained here, our operation is more complex and larger than any school bus fleet anywhere else in the world, I believe.
1:45:31
So when we're talking about 50 plus contracts, 10,000 routes, 140,000 students, there's a lot that goes into it.
1:45:38
There's trial and error involved.
1:45:39
We hoped that we would have gotten it done more quickly, but, you know, we lost some time to COVID, and then there was training support required for some bus companies.
1:45:46
And, you know, we had to go back to the drawing board and do various stages of piloting.
1:45:50
We thank our partners in District 26.
1:45:52
They were part of the initial pilot.
1:45:54
And we expanded to 2 bus companies to get a city wide footprint in the spring of 23, I believe, a nice bus and Pioneer.
1:46:02
They were part of those that that expanded pilots.
1:46:05
So we got the city footprint of about 30,000 students.
1:46:07
We learned a lot from doing those stages, and here we are today.
1:46:11
It's available to everyone.
1:46:12
The technology is on every bus, and it's ready to go.
