In Churchill County School District in Fallon, Nevada, the value of Transfinder’s transportation management system looks different depending on where you sit.

For Transportation Director Austin Metz, it is about managing routes, serving approximately 1,300 students and finding practical ways to make a complex operation easier to manage. For transportation trainer Scotty Grenamyer, it is about something more immediate: being able to learn the system quickly, use it every day and give drivers and parents better information.

From both vantage points, the conclusion is remarkably similar.

“I wouldn’t change it,” Metz said. “I’m happy with what I’ve got and for the value it can’t be beat.”

Churchill County operates 17 routes and uses Transfinder’s transportation technology to help manage its operation. Metz said the district uses the award-winning Routefinder PLUS, parent app Stopfinder and Tripfinder to manage field trips. It also has Viewfinder for a deeper look at the transportation department’s transportation operation.

Each of the solutions help address everything from daily routing to field trips and parent communication.

For Metz, Stopfinder has been particularly valuable from the parent perspective.

“Stopfinder has been a great solution for our parents,” he said. “It’s very user friendly and our parents really enjoy being able to see where buses are in real time, set those GeoAlerts and contact us at the click of a button.”

That visibility can also translate into fewer questions for transportation staff.

Grenamyer, who works directly with drivers and transportation operations, sees the same benefit from a different perspective.

“Stopfinder has been really good,” he said. “I mean, I haven’t had any issue with it.”

More importantly, he said, Stopfinder has changed the parents’ experience.

“Very much so, yes,” Grenamyer said when asked whether Stopfinder had reduced calls from parents and improved communications. “It’s made it much easier.”

He added that parents appreciate knowing what is happening with their children during the school day.

“The parents love to be able to see that we’ve gotten their kids, picked them up and that that we made it to the school and dropped them off.”

Behind that parent-facing experience is the district’s routing operation. Metz said Routefinder PLUS offers the flexibility needed when circumstances change.

“It’s great,” he said, noting that once he learned the system, “there’s a world of possibilities and abilities to add, alter, absorb routes, it’s great.”

That flexibility proved especially useful when Churchill County needed to combine routes.

“We’ve had to combine routes once, and Routefinder made it extremely easy to just create a new trip, move those stops where they need to be, and send that information out to parents at the click of a button,” Metz said.

Grenamyer’s experience illustrates another important piece of the equation: usability.

As a transportation trainer, he works with the people who have to use the system in the real world. He said he was able to get comfortable with it relatively quickly.

“I got it like really quick,” he added. “Took me just a couple weeks to figure it out and I’ve been using it every day for my reports, routing, everything.”

For a transportation department, that ease of use can matter as much as the technology itself. A powerful system has to work for the people sitting behind the transportation desk as well as the people behind the wheel.

Churchill County also uses Tripfinder for field trips and activity trips. Metz said the product helps the district manage drivers, mileage and billing from a centralized dashboard.

“It allows us to track our drivers, track our mileage, and create invoices right from the dashboard,” he said. “And it makes it super simple for anyone that has to step into that role.”

Grenamyer has also found value in Transfinder’s support and learning resources. He said Transfinder Community, Transfinder’s portal featuring guides, videos, webinars, training sessions and more – has helped him continue building his knowledge of the system.

“I love that you guys have got that Community system where you can go and learn and do courses. I’m halfway through with it right now and I’m getting certifications,” he said.

When he hit a roadblock with PLUS, support was readily available.

“They walked me through it and then they actually even designed it where I could use it directly, have my own tabs for certain reports I want to run to automatically give me a 60-day warning.”

For Churchill County, the technology is not simply about routing buses. It is about giving transportation leaders flexibility, giving trainers usable tools, giving parents information and giving the district a system that can adapt as needs change.

Metz’s assessment of Transfinder’s technology is straightforward.

“I wouldn’t change it.”

And from the driver’s training side, Grenamyer offers an equally direct endorsement of support:

“I enjoy it and I love that they are very friendly and helpful.”

For a school transportation operation looking for technology that combines functionality, usability and value, Churchill County’s experience offers a compelling perspective—from the transportation director’s office to the people working with drivers every day.

Five Key Takeaways

• A complete transportation ecosystem: Churchill County School District relies on Routefinder PLUS, Stopfinder, Viewfinder and Tripfinder, creating a connected platform for routing, parent communication, reporting, and trip management. Records dating back to 2007 provide valuable historical data for planning and decision-making.
• Operational efficiency drives cost savings: Routefinder PLUS enables the transportation team to quickly modify, combine, and optimize routes when circumstances change, helping the district maximize resources and reduce administrative workload.
• Parent communication improves while phone calls decrease: Stopfinder gives families real-time bus visibility, geo-alerts, and direct communication tools. Staff spend less time answering routine inquiries.
• Trip management becomes more accountable: Tripfinder helps track drivers, mileage, and invoicing from a single dashboard, streamlining field trip administration and providing better financial oversight for transportation departments and business offices.
• Strong support accelerates staff productivity: Scotty was able to become proficient with the system within weeks, and Transfinder’s support team helped create customized reporting tools that monitor certifications, licenses, CPR renewals, and physicals, reducing compliance risks and saving administrative time.

Discover more on “From Driver-Trainer to Transportation Director” from Austin Metz in his own words.

 

To learn more about the STN Expo 2026 Innovation Choice Awards: award-winning Best Hardware, Best Software, Best Safety Technology, and Best Green Technology leveraged by Churchill County School District, visit www.transfinder.com, email solutions@transfinder.com or call 800-373-3609.

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When bus surveillance footage is difficult to access or unreliable, transportation teams lose valuable time resolving incidents and supporting drivers. Read how one Washington school district improved efficiency with REI’s ARMOR Software Suite. Michael Dofelmire, transportation specialist at Fife Public Schools, discusses its impact.

REI: What prompted you to look for a solution like ARMOR?

Dofelmire: We had a very old [camera] system with a lot of problems. We would pull hard drives and they wouldn’t work, they’d be corrupt. The cameras wouldn’t work. Overall, we weren’t getting quality out of our systems. We also had only two cameras in every bus. One in the front and one in the back. With those cameras and the newer high-back seats, you couldn’t see among the seats. Kids would sneak down, and you couldn’t see them. That pushed us to get a newer camera system. We chose REI due to all the features and what it had in the background, including ARMOR.

REI: What do you like most?

Dofelmire: The quality and how everything is a cloud-based service so anybody can log in depending on how it’s set up. We have it set to where incident video is automatically downloaded before the driver even gets back, so they can view it quickly. Each person can download and see their own videos. That’s huge for [drivers] to have that access and flexibility. Saves a lot of time.

REI: How has ARMOR helped you resolve events faster?

Dofelmire: Being able to track things immediately. It’s set up so that when drivers press their panic buttons, my supervisor and I automatically receive text messages. [ARMOR] automatically flags the video, downloads it and does all the amazing work that it does.

REI: How has it simplified your job?

Dofelmire: We’ve had vaping on the bus and situations where a driver wonders what’s going on. We’re able to see live into the bus, look at that seat and catch the kids doing something right then and there. By the time the driver gets back, we’ve done the paperwork on writing those kids up and disciplining them. It has really streamlined the process.

REI: What’s the most significant change?

Dofelmire: The GPS, knowing where the buses are, and having access to the video almost instantly once it downloads. It’s very quick to send a video link to a principal through e-mail.

REI: What’s the feedback on ARMOR?

Dofelmire: Really good. Drivers love being able to download and watch the video themselves. Principals love it. [Incidents] can be dealt with that night versus tomorrow. It streamlines everything, definitely a game changer.

The ARMOR advantage is simple: stronger student safety, better driver support and streamlined daily operations. Let’s discuss all the ways ARMOR’s automated fleet management tools and REI camera systems can help your team save time and work smarter. Watch the demo, then send us a message, call 800.228.9275 or contact your REI sales rep.

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A driver suffered a medical emergency while transporting students and had to be rushed to the hospital.

The situation could have caused major disruptions and delays.

Not so for Norman Public Schools (Okla.) students and transportation officials. The transportation team was able to act immediately. Using Transfinder’s technology, staff reassigned student stops to another driver and seamlessly updated routing information in real time. The replacement driver picked up the students and completed the route with only a minimal delay.

“We got them home on time,” recalled David Chandler, assistant director of transportation at the Oklahoma school district. “They were maybe three minutes late getting home.”

Chander said Transfinder’s suite of solutions helped the district adjust to a real-world emergency in real-time, demonstrating the value of having technology that can adapt in seconds.

That ability to respond quickly has become increasingly important in an era when transportation departments must do more with fewer resources. Technology also helps make substitute drivers more successful, especially when they are covering unfamiliar routes.

Chandler there’s a simple way to describe the district’s relationship with Transfinder.

“We have all the finders,” he says with a laugh.

It’s a phrase that has become something of a running joke within the department, but it also reflects how deeply Transfinder’s technology has become integrated into every aspect of Norman Public Schools’ transportation operation. From routing and maintenance to driver workflows and parent communication, Chandler and his team rely on a comprehensive suite of Transfinder solutions to keep thousands of students moving safely and efficiently every day.

Norman Public Schools is no small operation. The district operates about 105 buses, runs nearly 80 routes and transports between 6,000 and 7,000 students daily. As one of Oklahoma’s largest school districts, the transportation team faces the same challenges confronting school systems nationwide: driver shortages, route efficiency, communication demands, safety concerns and the constant need to adapt to unexpected situations.

Transfinder has been a critical partner to help the district meet those challenges. For Norman Public Schools, Transfinder is much more than a software provider.

Norman Public Schools has Transfinder’s award-winning Routefinder PLUS, parent app Stopfinder, driver app Wayfinder, field trip management tool Tripfinder, fleet maintenance and inventory management solution Servicefinder, Infofinder i for school bus stop information and Viewfinder, which gives authorized district officials critical transportation information.

“We’ve integrated all of the products of Transfinder into our transportation department,” he said.

When Chandler arrived at Norman Public Schools four years ago, many drivers still relied on paper route sheets. Today, Wayfinder’s turn-by-turn navigation helps drivers confidently navigate routes while ensuring they follow the district’s carefully designed transportation plans. Drivers who were initially hesitant about new technology quickly became supporters once they experienced the benefits firsthand.

“We were able to let them see and test it out,” Chandler says. Drivers soon discovered that the tablets provided clear directions and simplified route coverage for substitutes.

“I just put the tablet on the route, turn the speakers up, and it tells me turn by turn,” Chandler said.

Beyond routing, Servicefinder has helped to modernize vehicle maintenance and repair tracking. The platform enables mechanics, supervisors and administrators to work from the same information, creating greater visibility throughout the maintenance process. Repairs can be assigned, tracked and documented in one system while costs are monitored along the way.

Chandler was a strong advocate for bringing maintenance operations back under the Transfinder umbrella.

“I love everything under one umbrella,” he says.

Even technicians who were initially reluctant to adopt the system have become champions after seeing the platform’s improvements and capabilities.

Meanwhile, Stopfinder has transformed communication with families. Parents can receive transportation information, monitor bus activity and communicate directly with the transportation department. Norman has aggressively promoted the platform through QR codes, district communications and outreach efforts to ensure families understand the value of staying connected.

Parents have embraced the technology, even using it to notify transportation staff when their child won’t be riding.

“They can message us through Stopfinder, and it comes straight to us,” Chandler explains.

Yet despite the technology, Chandler says one factor consistently sets Transfinder apart: customer service.

Whether his team has questions, needs training or encounters a challenge, Transfinder’s support team is readily available. Chandler credits the company’s willingness to jump on calls, conduct virtual meetings and walk users through issues step by step as a major reason for the partnership’s success.

“The customer service has been paramount. It’s been top notch,” Chandler says. “They’re answering our questions. They’ll say, ‘Let’s jump on a Zoom call.’ They’ll walk you step by step. That’s what we really love.”

For a transportation department responsible for safely serving thousands of students every day, that level of support matters.

After seeing how the solutions work together across routing, navigation, maintenance, inspections and parent communications, Chandler has become one of Transfinder’s strongest advocates.

“I’m really impressed with all of their products,” he says. “I really like all the products that Transfinder has.”

And in Norman Public Schools, having “all the finders” means having the tools, partnership and support needed to keep transportation running smoothly, no matter what challenges come down the road.

Why Transfinder Is a Critical Partner to Norman Public Schools

• All-in-One Transportation Solution
  “We have all the finders.” Norman relies on Transfinder across routing, maintenance, inspections, navigation and communications.
• Ready for Any Challenge
  When emergencies happen, Transfinder helps staff reroute students and keep service running with minimal disruption.
• Drivers Go with Confidence
  Turn-by-turn navigation helps both regular and substitute drivers stay on route and on schedule.
• Smarter Fleet Management
  Servicefinder gives the team real-time visibility into repairs, maintenance and costs.
• Support That Sets the Standard
  Top-notch customer service, hands-on training and responsive support make Transfinder a true partner.
• Better Connections with Parents
  Stopfinder keeps families informed and provides direct communication with transportation staff.

To learn more about the STN Expo 2026 Innovation Choice Awards: award-winning Best Hardware, Best Software, Best Safety Technology, and Best Green Technology leveraged by Norman Public Schools, visit www.transfinder.com, email solutions@transfinder.com or call 800-373-3609.

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Across the country, transportation leaders are being asked to solve the same problem in different forms: rising costs, ongoing driver shortages, and communities that expect reliable service without disruption. For many districts and bus contractors, the turning point came not from adding more resources—but from using Transfinder solutions more intentionally, guided by local best practices.

In one district, success started with people, not software. As Carissa Johnson, administrative services analyst at East Stroudsburg School District in Pennsylvania, explained, “Stopfinder will only be successful if the drivers are accurately using Wayfinder. Wayfinder is only successful if our dispatchers are properly routing.” Her team recognized early that tools had to work together—and that buy in across roles mattered as much as the technology itself.

Rather than rushing parent facing tools into production, the district focused first on drivers. “It took a lot first, just getting them to use the technology,” Johnson said. Weekly navigation audit reports helped identify who needed additional training and why. Over time, that discipline paid off. “Now that they see the impact that it has on Stopfinder with parents using it, we’re almost there.”

For others, efficiency gains came from pairing Transfinder tools with operational frameworks. In Springfield Public Schools in Oregon, operations and transportation manager Michael Schlosser described how lean thinking reshaped their approach. “My operating budget is about $7.9 million, and we’ve cut $1.3 million out of our budget in one year.” He traced those savings back to better routing practices and real ridership data. “So instead of having 4,500 kids assigned and routes out there that were running 15 to 20 kids on them, we eliminated 14 routes.”

That shift required changing long standing habits. “Going way back when, before we started Wayfinder, we just used to say all these kids are eligible for transportation,” Schlosser said. Requiring families to register clarified actual demand and reduced wasted capacity. Empty seats disappeared, and fewer buses were needed to move the same number of students.

Veteran transportation leader and consultant Pete Japikse sees this pattern repeatedly. “The solution is to keep transporting just as many kiddos as need a ride, but do it on fewer buses,” said Japikse of The Ennis Briton Consulting Group. For Japikse, the school bus must be treated as mass transit, not a personal vehicle. “And when you run fewer buses, you spend less money.”

Key Takeaways

• Align people, policy, and technology—tools work best when roles are connected
• Route to actual ridership, not eligibility assumptions
• Review and refine routes regularly, not only when problems arise
• Use data to build confidence with boards, parents, and drivers
• Small operational changes can unlock large, sustainable savings

Transfinder’s strength, he noted, lies in turning that philosophy into action. “Use the tools that Transfinder has to help separate actual riders from ghost riders, which allows you to do the data management that then you match with your route planning so that you can run an efficient operation.”

Bus contractors echoed the same theme from a different vantage point. Michael Howes, assistant operations director at Healey Bus, emphasized breaking out of silos that quietly drive inefficiency. “What I see with districts is they kind of get stuck in these silos,” he said, pointing to ways to think out of the box and collaborate with highway departments and police to reduce stop counts, improve safety, and tighten routes. “Your carbon impact is less, your speed is greater and the more efficiency you can have,”

Policy alignment also matters. Amy Rosa, transportation director at Wa-Nee Community Schools in Indiana, described how her district found gains by standardizing expectations. “The foundation of a lot of this is policy,” she said, noting that tightening alternative site rules and improving preregistration data made routes more predictable. “The pre routing data is critical. Getting that information from them… you can’t do it without knowing where you’re picking up kids.”

Rick Sanderson, transportation department foreman at Iron County School District in Utah, also highlighted the value of having information handy in Servicefinder, noting he’s used Servicefinder for at least 12 years. The district has 100 buses and the district serves more than 9,000 students.

“Parts-wise, I use the dashboard and created thematics so I can see when I’m out of parts, the cost for it,” he said. He puts his required three bids for parts in the grid, “so I can always refer back to it as far as cost goes,” Sanderson said.

Across these stories, the common thread is not a single feature or report—but intentional use. With consistent data, clear policies, and strong implementation practices, Transfinder solutions helped districts and contractors move from reactive operations to confident, efficient systems.

Efficiency, it turns out, is built together.

“The bottom line is the safety of the kids,” Sanderson said. “There’s a lot more to Transfinder than, I think, I know. There’s always different avenues, different perspectives you can take of it, with the data and making choices and judgments off of those.”

To learn more about Transfinder’s solutions and how it can help your district become more efficient, visit transfinder.com/solutions, email solutions@transfinder.com or call 800-373-3609.

The views expressed are those of the content sponsor and do not reflect those of School Transportation News.

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Stop-arm violations remain a persistent problem across the U.S. despite years of public awareness campaigns and media coverage. According to a recent survey by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), more than 39.3 million stop-arm violations occurred during the 2024-2025 school year. This figure reflects improvement over the previous year, but it still means millions of motorists ignored stopped school buses.

While every state has laws against passing stopped school buses, 30 states authorize the use of exterior school bus cameras to capture violations. One of those states is Colorado.

After a few near misses, South Routt School District RE-3 in northern Colorado enhanced its existing bus surveillance systems with REI’s AI Stop-Arm Violation Cameras. The IP camera uses vision-based AI to detect violations while the stop arm is extended, day or night. When a violation occurs, it automatically flags the DVR’s timeline and prompts ARMOR Software Suite to auto-download the violation video for review.

What benefits has the Colorado district experienced since installing the cameras? How have they affected stop-arm violations? Read on to discover how the camera’s technology is helping the district improve safety and streamline operations.

Violation Detection

Delbert Bostock, the district’s transportation director, notes the stop-arm camera’s impact on violation count, “Before we put the cameras on our buses, we were getting run all the time. We’ve really slowed down. It was on average between six and eight [violations] a month. Now, I went four weeks without one.”

He points out that community awareness has also played a part in reducing violations, “We’re a small community. And with the publicity, if you get pulled over and get a ticket for running a stop arm, you’re going to tell your neighbors about it.”

Driver Interaction

Drivers have enough to focus on to keep students safe. The AI Stop-Arm Violation Camera minimizes their role in detecting illegal passings.

“It makes [violation detection] easier while the bus driver is concentrating on a student getting on or off the bus,” Bostock adds.

Bus drivers no longer need to constantly watch for violators or press a panic button to flag recordings, reducing their workload and stress. The camera automates these tasks, allowing drivers to devote their attention to student activities inside and outside the bus. Fewer distractions behind the wheel are a significant safety benefit.

Increased Efficiency

Stop-arm camera systems allow operations to capture illegal passings, but finding violation footage often requires lengthy searches through DVR recordings. For officials already balancing staffing, maintenance and other operational tasks, the research can be trying.

The AI Stop-Arm Violation Camera enables transportation teams to quickly find and review violation footage within the integrated ARMOR Software Suite. ARMOR also allows users to generate evidence packages for law enforcement, saving time and reducing manual work. Here’s how the system works:

1. As a violation is detected, the camera automatically flags the DVR’s timeline.
2. The camera also triggers the license plate cameras to capture the violator’s plates.
3. ARMOR is also prompted to download the video clip, plate images and metadata from the DVR.
4. ARMOR receives and stores the video and data shortly after the violation, making it easy to find for quick review.
5. Once a violation is confirmed, the user can instruct ARMOR to generate an evidence package with plate images and relevant data and/or a link to the video clip.
6. Administration can email the password-protected package or link to law enforcement.

According to Bostock, “It just makes finding the plate and the infraction itself simpler and makes my job more efficient and easier. I look at the footage, make a copy and then send it to law enforcement. Within about 20 minutes, I can have it in the sheriff department’s hands, in their email file.”

He goes on to describe how the cameras’ capabilities have changed his workdays, “I have more time to interact with my staff and look at other video footage that we have. And it enables me to do my job better because I’m a one-man show here. I’m the director, a driver and, if needed, the mechanic. It enables me to work on the bus when I need to work on the bus and just frees up time throughout the day, so I’m getting other things accomplished.”

Enforcement Support

High-definition video evidence can strengthen partnerships between school districts and law enforcement. When violations are recorded clearly, officers review the footage and pursue enforcement actions with greater confidence.

Bostock sees that firsthand, “[Law enforcement] likes how the camera focuses down on the stop arm. They love that view better than the other views we’ve been using. I send them the footage, and it’s pretty cut and dry. We don’t tolerate [violations] and write tickets for all of it. If it’s on video, it goes to court and it works out great.”

Next Steps

Stop-arm violations continue to endanger students nationwide, making reliable detection and enforcement essential. REI’s AI Stop-Arm Violation Camera, paired with ARMOR Software Suite, helps document violations, support investigations and keep drivers focused on student safety. By automating key processes, the system helps districts like South Routt RE-3 operate more efficiently and safely.

Seeking stronger violation enforcement and greater efficiency? AI-powered stop-arm technology offers a crucial next step. Call 800.228.9275, contact us or your REI sales representative for more information about the AI Stop-Arm Violation Camera.

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For school transportation leaders, the pressure to deliver safe, reliable service—while managing staffing shortages, parent expectations, and operational complexity—has never been greater.

Van Buren Public Schools in Michigan faced all of these challenges across a geographically diverse district spanning rural roads, subdivisions and commercial areas. What followed was a rapid, full-scale transformation powered by Transfinder solutions.

“We have a very diverse type of area in a very diverse district, with a little over 4,500 students in the study body that we transport,” said Elizabeth Banks, Van Buren Public School’s director of transportation.

From Fragmented Systems to a Unified Platform with ‘Over-the-Top Customer Service’

Before Transfinder, the district relied on outdated tools that slowed operations and limited visibility. Routing changes required external support, and inefficiencies compounded during peak planning periods.

“The functionality was horrible,” Banks said. “It took a long time to get anything done.”

After evaluating nine vendors for the better part of a year, the district chose Transfinder for its comprehensive platform—integrating routing, driver navigation, maintenance, and parent communication into one ecosystem.

“It was all together,” she said. “It wasn’t like we would have to go to this company to get this piece and this company to get that piece.”

There was another reason the Van Buren Public School District chose Transfinder technology: “The ease of use,” she said.

Topping it off was the support team behind the solutions, one that returns calls swiftly. “The customer service aspect was a big draw as well.”

The other vendors the district looked at, she said, “weren’t as responsive. We’ve never had that problem with Transfinder. Matter of fact, your (Transfinder’s) customer service has been over-the-top helpful. We have a call back within a couple of hours. It’s not like we’re waiting days.”

In fact, she raved, “I love your staff. I love everybody at Transfinder that we’ve talked to, all of our trainers that we’ve dealt with. They’re just amazing, amazing people.”

Combine it all, the functionality, the all-in-one approach and customer support to back it, and the choice was clear.

“The determination was easy to make once we had our data,” Banks said.

Today, Van Buren has Transfinder’s award-winning suite of solutions, including Routefinder PLUS, parent app Stopfinder, driver app Wayfinder, fleet maintenance tool Servicefinder, and Viewfinder, which provides staff access to monitor the day-to-day operations of the transportation department.

Improving Safety with Wayfinder and Real-Time Visibility

Driver confidence and student safety improved immediately with Wayfinder, Transfinder’s in-vehicle navigation solution.

Instead of relying on paper route sheets, drivers now benefit from turn-by-turn directions and precise stop guidance.

“I’m grateful that we’re able to utilize the tablet and the turn-by-turn direction,” she said. “It makes it safer for the students. It makes it safer for our staff out on the road. It makes them more confident and comfortable doing a route that they may not know because of the turn-by-turn directions.

This is especially critical in a district with varying terrain and unfamiliar routes for substitute drivers. By guiding drivers exactly where they need to go and where to stop, Wayfinder reduces errors that can compromise student safety.

Strengthening Parent Communication with Stopfinder

A major pain point for the district was the volume of parent calls during peak hours—especially around missed buses, delays, and daily uncertainties.

“With the driver shortage, oftentimes our office staff were short as well because we’re covering routes,” Banks said. During the busiest times the office was fielding calls from parents with a reduced staff while other team members were out on the road.

Stopfinder changed that by opening up two-way messaging.

The rollout of Stopfinder transformed that dynamic. Initially piloted with special needs routes, the app quickly expanded district-wide, reaching approximately 75 percent parent adoption.

“We really pushed it in our messaging and then parents started talking to each other,” Banks explained.

Stopfinder enabled:

• Real-time bus updates and delay notifications
• Two-way communication between parents and transportation staff
• Automated alerts that put information directly in parents’ hands

“It’s saving time because we’re not having to field phone calls,” Banks said.

More importantly, it shifted the relationship with families.

“I think that they feel more in control now because they can set up that alert to tell them if the bus is running earlier, if the bus is running late,” she said. “it’s putting more control in their court.”

Driving Operational Efficiency Across the Department

Everything starts with the Routefinder PLUS platform. The safest and most efficient routes are created in PLUS, which is read by Wayfinder and then communicated out via Stopfinder.

With Routefinder PLUS, staff gained the ability to make real-time map edits and routing adjustments internally—eliminating delays that sometimes took months.

“Being able to do these ourselves, we were never able to do those ourselves in our own system,” Banks said. “We had to reach out to (the vendor) and put in a ticket for them to make an adjustment on the map and a lot of times those addresses were not put in the correct place.”

That’s all changed with PLUS.

“The biggest thing I’ve noticed with this program is that we are able to easily get in there, make the map edit because we know what it looks like and it saves time. It definitely saves time,” she said.

It’s a changing landscape, literally, this is critically important.

“Especially with new builds, new construction, it’s just amazing that we can just get in there and do it,” Banks said. “I don’t have to wait.

The impact was immediate, measurable and personal. Banks recalled talking with her router and remembering routinely putting in 12-hour days during the summer in preparation for the fall opening.

“Usually come August we’re here 12 hours a day trying to get all the kids routed,” she said. “This year, we’re done. We actually get to take Friday off before the holiday weekend. Wow, look at us go!”

Data-Driven Maintenance and Better Decision-Making

Because safety starts in the garage, by using Servicefinder, Banks and her team now track maintenance data and identifies patterns across its fleet.

This visibility supports smarter, data-driven decisions—helping prevent breakdowns and ensuring safer, more reliable vehicles for students.

A True Transformation

In just one year, Van Buren Public Schools moved from fragmented systems to a fully integrated transportation operation—improving safety, communication, and efficiency across the board.

When asked if Transfinder transformed the transportation department, Banks didn’t hesitate: “Yeah, 100 percent, unequivocally.”

And she’s not shy about sharing it with other transportation leaders. Banks said supervisors will often ask, “Is there something better? What do you use? And I always tell them Transfinder, that’s what we use. Don’t judge a book by its cover, she warned.

“I looked into several of these other companies and they may have looked good on the surface but there was nothing behind the pages in the book,” she said. “We turned the pages. It was empty.”

Key Takeaways for Transportation Leaders:

• Safety improves when drivers have real-time guidance and accurate routing tools
• Parent communication reduces operational strain and builds trust
• Integrated platforms eliminate inefficiencies and streamline workflows
• Data visibility supports better decisions across routing and maintenance
• Strong vendor support is critical to long-term success

To learn more about Transfinder’s transformational tools and service, visit transfinder.com/solutions, call 800-373-3609 or email solutions@transfinder.com.

The views expressed are those of the content sponsor and do not reflect those of School Transportation News.

The post Michigan District Transforms Transportation Safety, Efficiency, and Communication with Transfinder appeared first on School Transportation News.

Zūm’s AI-Powered System Is Addressing Pain Points and Driving Measurable Results for School Districts Nationwide

According to new research conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, 54% of parents report their child has expressed worry or concern about using school transportation. This anxiety – caused by uncertainty, delays, and disruption in getting to and from school – doesn’t end when students arrive; it shows up in the classroom and makes learning harder. It ripples through families and school communities every single day. Based on missed school days and late bus arrivals alone, legacy systems create approximately 55 billion lost instructional minutes per year, or roughly $15 billion in wasted educational spending.

The research identifies a widespread but under-recognized problem, which Zum calls the “Transportation Anxiety Crisis.” This anxiety can show up in the classroom, making it harder for students to learn in the classroom.

Zum is transforming student mobility nationwide — and easing transportation anxiety — through its fully integrated Connected Mobility Experience (CMX) system that connects people, vehicles, and operations in real time, creating reliable, transparent and efficient transportation for families and schools.

“Before Zum, we had no real-time visibility,” says Kim Raney, Executive Director of Transportation, Procurement, & Warehouse – Business Operations for Oakland Unified School District (CA). “Parents would call asking where the bus was, and by the time we got an answer, the child was already home. Now everyone sees the same information and the anxiety just disappears.”

Addressing Transportation Anxiety

Zum CMX is a first-of-its-kind, AI-powered system that is enabling transportation operations to move from disconnection and anxiety to measurable improvements in reliability, transparency, and efficiency for students and districts nationwide.

Adopted in 17 states, Zūm CMX now provides a unified, connected system across more than 4,500 schools, enhancing the overall student experience for each stakeholder — students, parents, school, districts, drivers and operators.

Making a Difference in School Districts Coast-to-Coast

Zūm CMX is being adopted by major districts from coast-to-coast, including Omaha Public Schools, Boston Public Schools, Kansas City Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified, and San Francisco Unified.

Unlike traditional systems that rely on disconnected vendors and manual processes, Zūm CMX is an AI-driven system that integrates apps and dashboards, platform capabilities, operations, people, and physical infrastructure. Zūm CMX seamlessly orchestrates routing, dispatch, workforce management, safety systems, and stakeholder communications within a single operating model to deliver delightful mobility experiences to all stakeholders.

Improving the Lives of Students and Families – One District at a Time

Zūm CMX is benefitting students, parents, schools, drivers and operators in measurable ways:

The results in Kansas City Public Schools are stunning:

• One year after being implemented, Zūm CMX has driven an 89% increase in ridership
• Transportation-related absences went from 25% to 5.6%
• Student attendance increased by 2.5% and extracurricular competitive access by 150+%
• Graduation rate hit a decades-high of 88.6%

A Proven Approach to Student Mobility

Zūm CMX is improving access to education while helping districts save money. It is ensuring students arrive at school safely and on time so they are ready to learn — while keeping parents and schools connected at every turn.

Learn more about how Zūm CMX is delivering modern transportation solutions to thousands of schools nationwide at www.ridezum.com.

The post Introducing Zum Connected Mobility Experience (CMX™): Revolutionizing Student Mobility appeared first on School Transportation News.

While some districts are still waiting for the promise of electric buses to catch up to reality, others are already reaping the benefits of cleaner, more cost-effective school transportation right now.

Across the country, more than 1,000 school districts are turning to propane autogas buses and seeing the benefits firsthand: healthier rides for students, happier drivers behind the wheel, and real cost savings that make a difference in the classroom. From public health experts to veteran drivers and transportation directors, those closest to the issue see how propane autogas is transforming student transportation for the better.

Healthier Rides and Cleaner Communities

For districts looking to make an immediate impact on air quality and student health, propane autogas buses are a smart choice. Compared with diesel, propane autogas reduces nitrogen oxides (NOx) by up to 96 percent and virtually eliminates particulate matter (PM). These pollutants contribute to asthma, respiratory issues, and other serious health concerns. By cutting emissions in the neighborhoods, school parking lots, and bus stops where children are most exposed, propane autogas can improve air quality.

Bailey Arnold, director of healthy air solutions for the American Lung Association (ALA), shared on a recent School Transportation News (STN) webinar why acting now, with proven technology like propane autogas, matters more than ever.

“Doing something today is really vital in the fight to combat all these climate change impacts that we’re seeing,” Arnold said. “When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters. So, anything we can do to lower emissions is going to benefit our health.”

In addition to reducing NOx and PM, Arnold emphasized that the cumulative effects of carbon output are significant and avoidable. According to NASA, CO₂ emissions can remain in the atmosphere for 300 to 1,000 years. Arnold also pointed to information from Clean Fuels Alliance America that found that every five years of delay in introducing cleaner options requires reducing 13 times the emissions in the future.

That’s why it’s important to start today. Propane autogas reduces lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by more than 24 percent compared with diesel, and renewable propane cuts that even further, reducing emissions by up to 80 percent depending on the feedstock. That means over a 10-year lifespan, a single renewable propane autogas school bus can cut carbon emissions by 1,600 tons compared with diesel.

“There’s a lot of benefit to using technologies like propane — fuels like propane autogas — to reduce those emissions so that we’re lowering its impact and protecting our lung health,” Arnold said.

Driver-Approved Experience

School bus drivers are on the front lines of student transportation. They know what makes a bus safe, reliable, and comfortable for themselves and for their passengers. And they know how propane autogas buses deliver on those benefits every day.

Drivers across the country consistently report that propane autogas buses provide a smoother ride with stronger acceleration than diesel, which is a major improvement in stop-and-go traffic. The buses are also quieter than diesel, so drivers can better hear activity inside the bus for improved safety.

Most importantly, drivers say they can instantly notice the difference in the smell of a propane autogas bus compared with diesel. With propane autogas, there’s no odor, no fumes, and no more headaches from harmful emissions. It’s why veteran drivers like Dawn Tiemann of Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia firmly believe in the benefit of propane autogas buses.

“There’s no smell, no fumes — nothing for the children to smell,” she said. “It’s so quiet, sometimes I have to ask myself, did I even start the bus?”

For transportation directors, that driver satisfaction can translate into stronger staff retention and more consistent operations, especially at a time when many districts are facing staffing shortages.

Savings That Help the Budget Go Further

Students and drivers aren’t the only ones benefiting from propane autogas buses. Transportation directors are seeing the impact where it matters most: in their budgets. Propane autogas school buses provide the lowest total cost of ownership thanks to reduced fuel and maintenance costs. Most districts report up to 50 percent savings on fuel costs alone compared with diesel. Those savings quickly add up and can be reinvested into other important areas like classrooms, driver pay, or fleet expansion.

Amy Rosa, director of school safety and transportation at Wa-Nee Community School Corporation in Indiana, has seen the value firsthand. Her district operates a mixed fleet that includes 25 propane buses.

“I was excited about buying buses for less money and realizing that the overall cost of ownership was going to be significantly lower,” Rosa shared during the STN webinar.

Those savings aren’t just theoretical. They’ve helped Wa-Nee keep extracurricular travel free for students.

“We offer all of our extracurriculars at no cost to students, so they don’t have to pay for travel,” Rosa said. “Every year we save money so that our kids can continue in sports and music programs with no fees there. That’s our goal. To save money for our students and our taxpayers.”

A Proven Solution That’s Working Today

While some school districts are waiting for the next wave of clean technology to arrive — and delaying significant emissions reductions in the process — others are already leading the way with propane autogas. Across the country, school transportation leaders are proving that a smarter, cleaner fleet doesn’t have to be years away. It can start now.

Explore what propane autogas can do for your district at propane.com.

The views expressed are those of the content sponsor and do not reflect those of School Transportation News.

The post Why Transportation Directors Are Choosing Propane Over Promises appeared first on School Transportation News.

Shelly had three buses down on a Monday morning.

Two were waiting on parts. One had been sitting in the bay for four days. Her one certified technician was working hard, but too much of that work had nothing to do with fixing buses. He was printing work orders. Writing notes by hand. Checking on parts. Tracking people down. Moving paper from one step to the next.

When the transportation director asked what was slowing the shop down, Shelly didn’t have a clean answer. She knew the buses were down. She knew the team was stretched. What she couldn’t see was where the hours were actually going.

Does that story feel familiar? The technician shortage is real. Every fleet leader knows that. Hiring is hard. Keeping good people is hard. Finding enough time in the day is even harder.

Still, hiring is only part of the challenge.

The rest hides in the blind spots. It hides in the paper trail, the missing status updates, the parts questions, and the work that pulls skilled technicians away from the buses that need them most.

That is why the technician shortage is a data problem, not just a hiring problem.

A short-staffed shop can feel even shorter when the day is packed with manual work. Paperwork slows everything down. Missing information slows it down more. By the time a fleet leader realizes where the delay is, the delay has already done its damage.

That’s the real cost of fleet blind spots. They steal time from the people who can least afford to lose it.

The hours are there. Too many shops just can’t see where they go.

Most school transportation leaders don’t need another reminder that technicians are hard to find. They live that reality every day. What they need is a clearer view of the capacity they already have.

A technician in a paper-based shop does not just repair buses. They wait on work orders. They check for parts. They stop for updates. They write down what they did. They hand off paper. Then they do it again.

That time adds up fast.

The problem here is visibility, not effort. When leaders can’t see where time is being spent, they can’t protect it.

That leaves good people working inside a system that makes every day harder than it should be.

Fleet leaders deserve better than that. So do their teams.

Better visibility gives technicians more time to do the work only they can do.

A technician should be working on buses, not chasing paperwork.

A fleet leader should be able to see what’s open, what’s waiting, and what needs attention next. They shouldn’t have to piece the story together from paper forms, hallway conversations, and scattered systems.

That is where RTA Fleet360 helps.

RTA Fleet360 brings work orders, PM scheduling, labor tracking, parts visibility, and reporting into one clear place. It helps school transportation leaders see what is happening in the shop while the work is happening. That means fewer fleet blind spots, faster answers, and a steadier day for the whole team.

When leaders can see where the hours are going, they can start giving those hours back to the shop.

That changes the pace of the work.

Jobs move faster. Delays are easier to spot. Technicians spend less time on admin drag and more time on the work that keeps buses ready.

Explore Fleet360 for K-12 fleets, or book a meeting with an RTA Fleet Expert to see how better shop visibility can help your team get more from the capacity you already have.

Real fleet leaders are already proving what better systems can do.

At Kern High School District in California, better visibility and tighter control led to a result any fleet leader would notice. Fleet Manager Adrian Corral put it simply: “As soon as we took on RTA … we got our shrink down to about $500.”

Before RTA, the district was dealing with a manual process that took too much time and too much effort to manage. With stronger systems in place, the team gained control, cut waste, and made the operation easier to run from top to bottom.

That matters in a school bus shop.

It means fewer things slipping through the cracks. It means better stewardship of public dollars. It means a leader can speak clearly about what is happening and what is improving.

Read the Kern High School District case study here, then book a meeting with an RTA Fleet Expert to see how those gains could translate to your fleet.

Better visibility helps school transportation leaders make stronger decisions.

A fleet leader shouldn’t feel like they have fleet blinders on.

They should be able to see what work is open, what’s behind schedule, and where the pressure is building. When that visibility is clear, it gets easier to set priorities, explain decisions, and back up the team with real numbers.

That kind of clarity changes the job.

Instead of reacting to every new problem, leaders can get ahead of them. Instead of walking into tough conversations with partial answers, they can walk in with proof. Instead of feeling buried by blind spots, they can lead with a steadier hand.

The next step for school bus fleets that want more control –

School bus fleets don’t need bigger blind spots. They need cleaner information, stronger workflows, sharper planning, and a better way to turn daily effort into measurable progress.

RTA Fleet360 helps make that happen. It brings maintenance, PM, labor tracking, parts visibility, and reporting into one clear place. Transportation directors can see more clearly, parts managers can respond faster, and buses can get back on the road safely. With RTA Fleet360, fleet leaders can lead with confidence.

Explore Fleet360 for K-12 fleets. Book a meeting with an RTA Fleet Expert. See how better shop visibility can help your team get more from the capacity you already have.

The post The Technician Shortage Is a Data Problem, Not Just a Hiring Problem appeared first on School Transportation News.

Nathan Bauman first found love, then he found his work passion.

And finally he helped his student transportation department recover roughly $500,000 in funds associated with field trips funded by various departments.

His journey began in 2009, when he was a bus driver at Aldine Independent School District in Texas and his then-girlfriend’s mother was running the field trip department.

She was struggling to integrate a new digital system the district had invested in to streamline the request-and-approval process for field trips. The new system was designed to replace the inefficient process of back-and-forth emailing that required a month’s notice for a typical field trip.

He volunteered to troubleshoot the issue, resolved it with the vendor and was promptly asked to take on more technical tasks as challenges arose across the student transportation department.

“I was naturally strong at solving these problems and was able to help the district a lot more in a technical role that served the entire department than simply as a driver,” he explained. “It’s rewarding to be able to troubleshoot issues that I know help the drivers and the staff run smarter.”

A year later he was promoted into a technical assistant role and he’s been helping the transportation department leverage busHive, the field trip software, ever since.

His work culminated in the efficient recouping of approximately $500,00 every school year from different district departments which rely on the transportation department to shuttle students to and from a diverse set of activities and programs.

“The process to recoup these funds would take an incredible amount of time, energy and focus to complete if it were not for busHive,” Bauman said.

“The fact that it automates so many of the calculations involved in so many different types of unique trips makes it easy for me to work across the district to recoup a significant amount to our department.”

A Texas-Sized Challenge: Capturing Trip Data from Various Funding Sources

Not every field trip is created equal, especially as it relates to funding.

Burnham said about 65 percent of the field trips are normal activities that are already part of the funding schedule for the transportation department, including athletics and inter-district activities.

The remaining 35 percent of the non-fixed route trips are associated with a third-party funding source, often federal or some other academic funding.

These trips carry a significant cost, averaging about $300 – $500 per run.

“There is so much variability and diversity among these trips so it’s not something we can easily crank out in a spreadsheet,” he said. “It takes a lot of focus and expertise to capture all the unique data in a way that makes it easy for us and simple for the other departments.”

In a district with 56,000 students and a transportation department that maintains 474 buses that traveled nearly five million miles last academic year, the costs of these trips add up to significant sums.

Barnham estimates these special field and activity trips total approximately 2,500 per year.

That’s where the district’s investment in the busHive software application pays dividends.

Its ability to automate the request-to-approval-to-driver assignment process without a flurry of back-and-forth emails has silenced the chaotic noise long associated with this process.

The 30-day request is still department policy, but the busHive software allows Barnham and his team to respond rapidly when a one-off last-minute request knocks at their door.

“Most of the district staff are very good about putting their requests in well in advance and it helps us manage and plan, but we’re also able to respond nearly immediately when someone forgets or a true last-minute opportunity presents itself,” he explained.

“We can get a request today and be ready to dispatch a bus tomorrow and not have it disrupt us. busHive makes it easy to route it across all the approvals and get the driver assigned in no time.”

Automating Complex Reimbursements

But the financial side of the equation is where the busHive investment shifts from efficiency accelerator to financial differentiator.

Prior to busHive, the district had to manually calculate the value of each of those 2,500 unique trips and then engage in email requests for reimbursements. The process was slow, tedious and rife with opportunities for clerical or accounting errors to disrupt prompt payments.

“There is so much variability and diversity among these trips so it’s not something we can easily crank out in a spreadsheet,” he said. “It takes a lot of focus and expertise to capture all the unique data in a way that makes it easy for us and simple for the other department.”

Today, busHive automates the calculations, creates an invoice, integrates with a third-party financial management software to make the request and receives the reimbursement.

From request to receipt, the money is often received in about three days.

“Without busHive, this could take weeks of back and forth,” he said. “The calculations alone would be an enormous burden nevermind the reconciliation of the receipts. busHive automates so much of the heavy lifting and creates a smooth system for every person in the process.”

Bauman calculates the funds recouped equate to about $500,000 per school year. Without busHive, it would be nearly impossible to process all the requests required to achieve that recouping.

“Not everyone appreciates so many of the intricacies of special trips and how we pay for them and how the transportation department serves the district,” he said.

“It has made a world of difference to our department and our accounting to have a system that automates nearly every part of the process.”

Learn More and Book a Demo.

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About Transit Technologies

Transit Technologies delivers a best-in-class, technology suite for the K–12 transportation industry—helping school districts and school bus contractors run safer, more efficient, and more transparent operations from end to end.

busHive, a modern solution designed to simplify and streamline field trip and athletic trip management. From request intake and approvals to scheduling, communication, and billing, busHive replaces manual processes with a seamless digital workflow that saves time and reduces errors.

For daily operations, ByteCurve provides powerful tools for dispatch, timekeeping, and payroll. It equips transportation teams with real-time visibility into routes, driver activity, and labor data, ensuring accurate reporting, optimized staffing,—all within a single, fully integrated system.

Safety and visibility are enhanced through Vestige, a comprehensive suite of onboard cameras and telematics. Vestige delivers actionable insights through video capture, GPS tracking, and AI driver behavior monitoring, empowering districts to proactively improve safety, respond quickly to incidents, and build trust with parents and communities.

Rounding out the ecosystem is Faster, a robust vehicle maintenance and asset management platform. Faster helps fleets stay road-ready with preventative maintenance scheduling, work order tracking, inventory control, and lifecycle management—maximizing uptime while reducing operational costs.

Together, these solutions form a unified platform that transforms K–12 transportation—connecting people, processes, and data to drive smarter decisions, safer rides, and more efficient operations.

The post Aldine ISD Uses busHive Technology to Save Big on Field Trips appeared first on School Transportation News.