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Tech Talk with BusPatrol: The Next Era of Student Safety

RENO, Nev. – As a leader in school bus safety technology, BusPatrol CEO Karoon Monfared showcased the company’s stop arm enforcement program and track record of protecting over 2 million children on 40,000 buses across 27 states.

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Monfared’s presentation, part of the Bus Technology Summit series at STN EXPO West, blended personal anecdotes – such as a heartfelt birthday wish for his son Liam – with an engaging “10-star experience” experiment involving an audience member and her favorite restaurant, Black and Blue, to illustrate BusPatrol’s ethos of understanding, attention to detail, and caring.

BusPatrol’s community-first approach is shaped by listening to partners like Keba Baldwin, director of transportation at Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland and STN’s 2025 Transportation Director of the Year, as well as early collaborators in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York. The company trains its field service technicians on every school bus make and model, and leverages data to identify illegal passing hotspots for safer route planning. Monfared emphasized the importance of continually asking partners questions about protecting every child and using data-driven insights, ensuring technology is purpose-built for school buses rather than adapted from other industries.

“The technology around us is evolving at unbelievable speed, but it hasn’t been built from the ground up,” he said. “Our video management solutions on the inside of the school bus have been built from the ground up with student transportation in mind.”

The session addressed the daily challenges student transportation teams face, including integrating technology into workflows, urgency in bus yards, and the manual, detective-like process of retrieving video footage. This involves finding buses, removing hard drives, cropping, clipping, and delivering footage, all of which can take hours or days and delay incident response. BusPatrol’s new Beyond Enforcement+ offering launching this fall, offers a modern incident management platform with privacy built into every step, secure sharing with school staff, and a connected, streamlined workflow. Since BusPatrol’s end-to-end technology ownership enables seamless integration with other systems and rapid improvements, it avoids patchwork solutions from multiple companies.

“We’ve reimagined every step of the entire process, from detection to delivery, so you can get your typical video in about three minutes,” Monfared explained. “That means faster decisions, faster communication and a faster safety response.”

He also highlighted the violator-funded enforcement model and the “BusPatrol difference” – a commitment to affordable innovation and purpose-built solutions for the industry’s “precious cargo” of children.

The audience of student transporters, often the first to arrive at work and last to leave, was recognized for their dedication, with millions of parents trusting them daily. Monfared confirmed that BusPatrol takes the privilege of partnership seriously, working “shoulder to shoulder” with student transporters to prevent illegal passing incidents and deliver fast, effective solutions for the next era of student safety.

Written with assistance of AI from a session transcript.


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The post Tech Talk with BusPatrol: The Next Era of Student Safety appeared first on School Transportation News.

School Bus Fuel Innovation, Technology Education Meet at STN EXPO West

The Bus Technology Summit and Green Bus Summit return to Reno, Nevada this July during the STN EXPO West conference.

The Bus Technology Summit begins Sunday, July 12 with live product labs presented by companies representing different facets of the student transportation space. Solutions include routing software, safety features, fleet optimization, student ridership, transportation communications and more. Attendees will select labs to attend based on operational needs and will interact with vendors to ask targeted questions and get a closer look at the technology solutions transforming the industry.

The Sunday labs will be presented by Transfinder, First Light Safety Products, Alpha Route, Geotab, Samsara, BusRight and Verra Mobility. Labs continue Monday, July 13 with SafeFleet, Tyler Technologies, School-Radio, CalAmp, Cummins/Accelera and HopSkipDrive.

Zonar CEO Charles Kriete will present a “CEO Talk” on Sunday morning to discuss the technology trends impacting the student transportation industry. The following morning, ZUM’s COO and co-founder Vivek Garg will present his “Tech Talk” to conference attendees.

Meanwhile, the Green Bus Summit will focus on green leadership that enables attendees to discover the latest advancements in sustainable transportation. A wide-range of speakers from OEMs, school districts using low-emission fuel options, and industry experts will share operational considerations, real-life experiences and tips to find the best fuel option for their operations. Sessions will be presented by Blue Bird, Thomas Built Buses, Micro Bird, the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) and IC Bus. The Green Bus Summit sessions will also be held on Sunday and Monday.

The two Summits meet for an immersive outdoor experience Sunday night at the STN EXPO West Ride and Drive/Live Technology Demo. Attendees will ride electric, propane and low-emission diesel school buses from Blue Bird, IC Bus, Micro Bird, RIDE and PERC. In addition, they will visit Zonar, Tyler Technologies, Transfinder and ZUM for more live product demos and networking with vendors for real-time discovery of solutions to take home to their districts.

The evening will include an energetic networking atmosphere with food and beverages, interactive games and a live DJ. Attendees will not only network with companies providing transportation solutions but meet other transportation professionals to have the conversations that are driving innovation in the industry.

Find the full conference agenda and registration details at stnexpo.com/west. STN EXPO West will be held July 9-15 at the Peppermill Resort in Reno, Nevada. The conference will feature hands-on training classes including the National School Bus Inspection Training Program, educational sessions, the Transportation Director Summit leadership event, the STN EXPO West Trade Show and other unique networking events.


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The post School Bus Fuel Innovation, Technology Education Meet at STN EXPO West appeared first on School Transportation News.

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