MERIDIAN, Idaho – Durham School Services recently welcomed Mayor Simison of Meridian to its new facility and introduced its advanced fleet of buses.

During his visit, Mayor Simison was given a tour of Durham’s brand-new facility by General Manager Samuel Ray while Safety Training Supervisor Terry Marinos proudly showcased a bus from Durham’s new 200+ bus fleet. The mayor was also given an in-depth overview of the safety technology and other features aboard all of Durham’s buses. This includes DriveCam (driver safety monitoring system), Zonar (pre and post trip inspection reporting), CCTV, LED lights, and more.

“This visit from Mayor Simison was an exciting experience. In addition to showcasing our facility and buses, it gave us the special opportunity to display the incredible safety technology we use to transport the students of Meridian safely, every day. It also allowed us to highlight the phenomenal hard work our team put into ensuring a successful school start-up for the school district,” said Samuel Ray, General Manager, Durham School Services. “Moreover, we were able to reaffirm our Company’s values and commitment to always providing safe and reliable service. I’d like to thank Mayor Simison for his visit and sincerity in learning about our bus operations. It was an honor.”

Durham School Services currently serves the West Ada School District, the largest district in the state of Idaho. This new five-year partnership was announced in February and consists of 200 routes. In early November, the Durham and West Ada team were recognized at the district’s board meeting for a “smooth and effective” school start-up.

About Durham School Services: As an industry-leading student transportation provider, Durham School Services is dedicated to the safety of our students and People. For more than 100 years, we have been committed to Excellence and upholding our mission of getting students to school safely, on time, and ready to learn. Through this mission and a grassroots approach to our operations, Durham School Services has earned recognition as a trusted transportation provider among our Customers and the Communities we serve.

The post Durham School Services Showcases State-of-the-Art School Buses & Safety Technology for Mayor Simison of Meridian, Idaho appeared first on School Transportation News.

Complexity is the name of the game for any school transportation operation, and challenges are compounded for districts with student ridership in the thousands.

At West Ada School District in Idaho, Transportation Liaison RD Huntley supports the transportation of 12,500 students every school day. When asked to pinpoint the difference between the challenges faced by small and large districts, Huntley said: “The simple answer is volume. More students require greater coordination between management, drivers, administration, and technology.”

Serving a larger number of students well requires more resources, including people, vehicles, and technology. Tyler Technologies’ all-in-one student transportation solutions help large districts, including West Ada SD, to connect their transportation resources and processes.

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To learn more about Tyler Technologies’ Student Transportation software and tools that help streamline the complexities of large transportation operations, watch their Student Transportation for Large Districts webinar.

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To meet the challenges large school districts face — and empower the people who make those bus trips run smoothly — there are 5 key roles technology can play in supporting transportation operations.

1. Ensuring Every Student’s Needs Are Met, Every Day

Picture a typical day in a large transportation operation: routers constantly creating routes, dispatchers making real-time adjustments, and drivers navigating their assigned runs. With so many moving parts, how do you ensure every student’s unique needs are communicated and met seamlessly? In this dynamic environment, ensuring no detail is overlooked is crucial to delivering safe and reliable service for every child.

Huntley and the West Ada transportation department use Tyler Technologies’ Student Transportation software and Tyler Drive onboard tablets to help them stay on top of every detail.

“I cannot over-emphasize the value of the software and tablet integration,” Huntley said. “The software allows unlimited users, putting a wealth of information in the hands of district personnel and school administration, including bus stop information, vehicle tracking, and student ridership.”

The system acts as a safety net, providing real-time alerts and safeguards throughout the operational workflow.

For instance, consider the critical need for a wheelchair lift on a specific bus. If a new route is created without ensuring the assigned vehicle has the proper equipment, a student relying on that lift could face significant disruption in their day, potentially missing class or essential services. By integrating safeguards, like the instant alerts in Student Transportation routing software, these crucial details are flagged before they become issues.

A missed accommodation like this doesn’t just inconvenience a student—it can negatively impact their entire educational experience. By proactively addressing such needs, we can help ensure no student is left behind due to logistical oversight. The seamless flow of critical student information, from the router at the software level to Tyler Drive for the driver, is invaluable in making sure every need is met and every student receives the service they are entitled to.

These proactive safeguards are built to ensure that no matter who is making a change, every staff member is aware and responsive to the unique needs of the students. This comprehensive approach gives large operations the tools to help them provide the highest level of service and safety every day.

2. Streamlining Communication with Families and Staff

In large transportation operations, changes are inevitable — from driver switches to bus reroutes. Keeping everyone informed, especially parents and guardians, can be a challenge. Tyler Technologies makes communication seamless, eliminating the extra steps typically involved in updating families.

Huntley said, “The use of My Ride K-12 at West Ada School District has made communication with parents simple and effective. Parents can observe the expected arrival of their bus, be notified when their student gets on or off, and receive messages from dispatch for any changes that may occur.”

When working with a large staff and complex operation, having a solution that streamlines processes without adding extra work is crucial. Tyler Technologies’ platform not only simplifies internal communication, but also provides transparency and peace of mind for families, ensuring everyone is quickly and accurately informed. “Communicating with families through My Ride K-12 has dramatically reduced incoming phone communications and given parents stronger confidence in our transportation services,” Huntley said.

3. Informing Decisions and Achieving Compliance With Robust Reporting

For transportation directors managing large operations, it’s crucial to simultaneously evaluate daily performance, ensure compliance, and maximize funding opportunities. Tyler Technologies’ software provides robust and accurate reporting tools that cover all aspects of transportation management.

“The reporting capabilities of Tyler’s software are instrumental in evaluating on-time performance, RFID usage, and required information for state reports. If you need information, the system can provide it,” Huntley said. Directors can also evaluate bus stops, route efficiency, driver performance, and student safety, gaining detailed insights to make informed decisions quickly.

Additionally, the software offers specialized reports to simplify the process of meeting state annual reporting requirements and filing for Medicaid reimbursements. Tyler’s system ensures that all necessary data is accurately tracked, recorded, and formatted for easy submission, reducing administrative burden and improving the chances of reimbursement. With precise, real-time data at their fingertips, transportation leaders can confidently manage compliance, secure funding, and continually enhance their operations.

4. Integrating Alternative Transportation Solutions

Often, transporting more students also means offering more transportation options. Large districts might transport students to special programs and magnet schools, coordinate their routes with public transportation, and serve more students with special needs or those who are protected under the McKinney-Vento Act. To provide these options and serve all their students’ needs, large districts often work with transportation contractors or third-party vendors for services including alternative transportation, RFID cards, and dispatch.

For example, districts serving a large number of students with special needs or Individualized Education Program (IEPs) might leverage a ride-share style alternative transportation vendor to provide a safe and comfortable experience for students that struggle in a typical school bus environment. But it’s important for the transportation department to keep track of students using those alternative transportation methods just as they do for students riding their own buses. Data integration between a district’s student transportation software and other transportation technology partners is critical to ensuring student safety, clear communication, and operational efficiency.

Tyler connects these solutions through Onboard Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS), a one-stop data exchange that uses Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to bridge the silos of information between transportation technology providers to empower transportation leaders with more customization and flexibility to support their students. With a growing network of integrators, Onboard iPaaS securely joins transportation applications together to maximize the value of the data already being generated by the tools large districts use every day.

5. Supporting Transportation Staff

In 2021, West Ada School District saw a sharp decline in student ridership — dropping from 13,000 to 8,500. Contributing factors ranged from the impact of COVID-19 and driver shortages to inefficient routing and low parent confidence.

“The district’s decision to bring in Tyler’s Student Transportation software, Tyler Drive tablets, RFID readers, and student cards, along with returning customer service and routing to the district, has resulted in an upward trend with ridership,” said Huntley.

By providing their transportation staff with powerful and connected tools, West Ada SD rebuilt their operation. At 12,500 today, ridership has nearly returned to pre-pandemic numbers.

“The difference is the efficiency of the routes, driver confidence, and parents being supplied critical information to satisfy their previous concerns. This all could not be possible without our Tyler Student Transportation software,” said Huntley.

The driver shortage has impacted districts of all sizes, but every driver counts even more so when there are more students to transport. With chronic absenteeism on the rise, increasing ridership is not just a logistical challenge but a critical solution to getting students back to school consistently.

Reliable transportation can play a pivotal role in reducing absenteeism, ensuring students have access to the education they need. As we work to optimize routes and address the shortage, we must also focus on maximizing ridership, making every bus and every driver even more essential to the success of the entire system.

Tyler Drive tablets can help districts recruit and retain drivers by helping them feel supported. For example, drivers at West Ada SD feel confident taking on any route when their bus is equipped with Tyler Drive.

“The tablets with real-time navigation have revolutionized the insecurities usually affiliated with driving in unknown areas and the distraction of paper route sheets,” said Huntley. For new drivers, substitutes, and even seasoned drivers on an unfamiliar route, Tyler Drive empowers driver confidence and supports more efficient routing.

Bus drivers at West Ada SD are also supported with Tyler’s advanced solutions, which are designed to meet the complex needs of large districts. For example, the district uses Advanced Activity Trips to plan, execute, and invoice a trip from start to finish. And the user interface is easy for their drivers to pick up.

“Since it mirrors the routing software, drivers do not need to learn a separate system to successfully operate a trip,” said Huntley. These solutions help set drivers up for success, giving them tools to complete their routes safely and efficiently.

Tyler’s Suite of Integrated Student Transportation Tools

The data that supports school transportation operations is complex, and connecting all the technology districts use can be cumbersome. To help transportation departments put the pieces together, Tyler Technologies’ Student Transportation solutions offer a one-stop shop for everything from routing, fleet maintenance, and activity trips to parent communication, GPS, and telematics.

And when your students require more specific or custom solutions to meet their needs, Tyler is committed to supporting integrations with your other transportation technology vendors through the Onboard iPaaS network.

To learn more about how Tyler’s integrated software and seamless connections can support your large transportation operations, register for their upcoming webinar.

The post 5 Ways Large Districts Can Improve Transportation Operations with Technology appeared first on School Transportation News.

This article was originally published by the Idaho Capital Sun.

The Boise Airport became powered by 100% renewable energy this fall after Boise opted to be the first city to sign on to an optional new renewable energy program through Idaho Power.

The city of Boise is purchasing enough solar energy to power both the Boise Airport and the Lander Street wastewater treatment facility through 100% renewable energy, Steve Hubble, climate action manager for the city of Boise, said in an interview Thursday.

The Boise Airport is likely the first municipally-owned major airport in Idaho to become 100% solar energy powered. Hubble said he isn’t familiar enough with municipalities in North Idaho or eastern Idaho, which work with different utility companies, to know what their energy mix is.

“We’re the first municipality in Idaho to enter one of these Clean Energy Your Way contracts, so that’s pretty exciting in and of itself,” Hubble said. “And then from a quantitative perspective, I’m always going to link that back to what the city’s goals are.”

The move to powering its facilities by renewable energy represents Boise moving forward on climate policies at a time when the Idaho Legislature is actively pushing back against environmental and climate programs. While the Idaho Legislature has not established formal climate goals, the city of Boise has specific goals it bases climate policies around.

• Power city government by 100% renewable energy by 2030.
• City government operations become carbon neutral by 2035.
• Power the entire community by 100% clean electricity by 2035.
• The community becomes carbon neutral by 2050.

Making the Boise Airport and Lander Street wastewater treatment plant 100% renewable-powered brings the city to 25% of its 2030 renewable energy goal for city government.

“So in other words, if you look at all the city’s electricity usage right now, about a quarter of it is being powered by renewable electricity, because the airport and Lander Street are two of our three biggest electricity-using facilities,” Hubble said. 

How did Boise make its airport and a water treatment plant renewable energy powered?

Boise had been powering the airport and Lander Street facility with the standard energy it received from Idaho Power, which includes an energy portfolio of renewable energy like hydro as well as nonrenewable energy sources, like coal. To go 100% renewable, the city bought enough renewable solar energy to cover 100% of the energy those two facilities use.

The project is part of Idaho Power’s Clean Energy Your Way program, which is optional and does not change the energy mix that regular Idaho Power customers receive or the rates they pay, Idaho Power Director of Economic Development and Innovation Megan Ronk said in an interview.

Idaho Power’s largest source of energy today is renewable hydro power, Ronk said. For 2022, 24% of Idaho Powers energy generation capacity was coal, Idaho Power reported. Idaho Power has a goal to have 100% clean energy by 2045.

For customers who want to go renewable sooner, Idaho Power created Clean Energy Your Way, Ronk said.

“Clean Energy Your Way is really intended to provide a menu of options to meet customers where they are at in meeting their respective renewable and clean energy goals,” Ronk said in a phone interview.

The Boise City Council approved participating in the Clean Energy Your Way program in October 2023. 

“This is possible because Boiseans have been so clear that they expect our city to lead in protecting our environment for the future,” Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said in a written statement after the Boise City Council vote. “It is important that we are resilient and because we want our kids, and their kids, to be healthy and to have a place where they can live and thrive into the future.”

After the Boise City Council approved participating in the program, Idaho Power and the city applied for approval from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, which regulates utility companies in Idaho.

Under the application for the project, Boise sought approval to buy up to 10 megawatts of power from Black Mesa Energy solar project in Elmore County. In addition to the normal Schedule 19 rate Boise pays for energy not from the solar project, Boise will pay a fixed cost charge for each kilowatt hour of energy received from the Black Mesa Energy solar project. Excess energy generated but not used will be credited to the city. 

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission approved the application in August, which allowed the city to begin purchasing the solar energy Sept. 1.

The city’s contract is for 20 years. Hubble told the Sun he expects the city to pay slightly more for energy during the first 18 months of the project. Then, for the duration of the first 10 years, Hubble expects the city to either realize a savings or be paying no more than it would have regularly, without going renewable.

“We’re pretty excited about that savings opportunity, because basically this contract allows us to kind of lock in the rate for a portion of our power cost, and power costs do change, so that’s something we’re really excited about,” Hubble said. “It’s kind of cool, not only the renewable attribute of this, but that economic attribute of this is pretty exciting.”

Boise has a 25% share of the solar energy from the Black Mesa Energy project, while the remaining 75% is being used by Micron for renewable energy projects, Hubble said. 

Other cities, residents and businesses can participate

Idaho Power offers different types of Clean Energy Your Way programs for residential customers, businesses and large municipal customers like the city of Boise. The largest energy-using customers, like the city of Boise, are able to participate in the Clean Energy Your Way Construction agreement that powered the Boise Airport and Lander Street facility. Hubble thinks Boise’s project could set an example for other large Idaho Power municipal or industrial customers who want to go with renewable energy. 

But there are other options for other types of Idaho Power customers too. Residential customers can cover all or part of their energy use with renewable wind and solar energy at a cost of 1 additional cent per kilowatt hour, with the ability to cancel any time. Business customers can purchase renewable energy certificates, with options to buy on a month-to-month basis or for a three-year commitment. 

Boise Airport now powered by 100% renewable energy through Idaho Power program is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.