Attention, parents: Your local school system may have found an easier way to figure out the speed and location of your child's bus.
School-bus tracking devices are on their way to Spotsylvania County, and Stafford County might soon try a similar system.
School buses are now equipped with radios that let transportation officials communicate with drivers--who can provide their locations and estimated times of arrival.
But a radio isn't foolproof. The volume might be turned down. A driver might not want to take either hand off the wheel to use one. And radios aren't much good if drivers aren't in their buses, for whatever reason.
Officials in Stafford and Spotsylvania think they have a solution--Global Positioning System devices that will allow dispatchers to look at a computerized county map and pinpoint the bus's exact location.
After testing the system last year, Spotsylvania recently bought 12 GPS transmitters and two receivers from Pennsylvania-based Everyday Wireless LLC. They're supposed to be installed and running by the end of the school year.
Stafford's school superintendent put money into her proposed budget for next fiscal year that would fund a GPS test program.
The transmitters, which are about the size of a bagel, hook into a bus's electrical system. When the ignition is on, the device transmits radio-wave signals five to 10 times a minute.
The receivers pick up signals within a 20-mile radius and beam the data into a computer network. Transportation officials can tell the bus's location, when it stopped and how fast it's going.
"I will know exactly when they're starting and stopping," said Sean Lacey, coordinator of automated routing for Spotsylvania's school transportation department. "It's important for us to know where they're at at all times."
In Spotsylvania, one receiver will be set up in the southern part of the county, and one in the north to prevent dead spots.
Spotsylvania spent about $13,100 on the first 12 units--$3,900 for the receivers, $8,700 for the transmitters and $500 for a Federal Communications Commission license.
Superintendent Jerry Hill's proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 asks for 50 more transmitters. The devices are now $825 each, for a cost of $41,250.
The 12 transmitters on order and 50 on request will go into special-needs buses, said Spotsylvania Director of Transportation Kermit Shaffer.
Special-needs buses have to travel longer distances, said Shaffer, who hopes the tracking devices make their routes more efficient.
Shaffer hopes all Spotsylvania school buses will be equipped with transmitters within about eight years.
The next batch would go to substitute drivers. That way, transportation officials could watch new drivers' progress on a computer screen, and talk them through the route on radios.
Although Shaffer hopes the GPS devices might help his department's efficiency and accountability, he said the primary benefit is student safety.
Officials will have better tracking information if there's an accident or a hijacking. Drivers can push an emergency button to alert dispatchers to a problem. If a bus is stopped too long or goes off its scheduled route, officials can investigate.
An incident in January 2002 shows that possibility, while rare, is real. A school bus northwest of Philadelphia carrying 13 students went missing for six hours. The driver, whom police say had a loaded rifle, eventually surrendered in the Washington suburbs. The children weren't hurt.
Spotsylvania School Board Chairman Martin Wilder said GPS devices are worth the money, based solely on safety improvements.
"If a bus gets hijacked, you know where it is," Wilder said during a recent School Board budget work session.
Lacey said rental-car companies have been using GPS devices for years. Shaffer said the systems have gotten more common in school buses since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
School systems in Northern Virginia and Tidewater already use them, although they're new for this area, Shaffer said.
The Fredericksburg public school system has chosen not to use them because of the city's small size, according to Director of Operations Bob Burch.
Stafford Superintendent Jean Murray's proposed budget for fiscal 2006 includes $18,000 to put GPS devices on six buses. If the School Board approves the money in its budget, the six buses would be part of a pilot program. If successful, the devices could be installed on Stafford's fleet of about 200 buses.
Shaffer said Spotsylvania might someday develop a system to track when students get on and off buses, perhaps by swiping identification cards. But for now, officials are focusing on tracking the buses.
Shaffer doesn't expect the new system will cut down on the number of parents calling--with 280 buses transporting 20,000 students a day in Spotsylvania, calls are unavoidable.
But he hopes transportation officials will soon have better, quicker answers for the callers on the other end. And more importantly, safer children on the roads.
Staff reporter Kelly Hannon and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
To reach BILL FREEHLING: 540/374-5424 bfreehling@freelancestar.com