Waco ISD school buses get camera surveillance and GPS systems
After Waco ISD took over transportation operations for the district, school buses are getting unprecedented upgrades.
WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Waco I.S.D upgraded its school buses with surveillance cameras and GPS systems, the first upgrade to its fleet in more than 20 years.
Waco I.S.D. took over transportation operations from a contracted company this year and the school board approved a $200,000 upgrade package for its buses.
The package included a replacement for the existing camera system. The new camera system will feature five interior and three exterior cameras. The exterior cameras can capture vehicles that don’t obey the buses stop sign. Waco I.S.D. will be reporting those drivers to law enforcement.
“We’ll have eyes and a camera on the stop sign,” Waco I.S.D’s Transportation Director Dr. Ricky Edison said. “So as the bus pulls up to a stop, which is safety first, if there’s any car that decides not to obey that we will be working with law authorities to make sure proper actions are taken place there with that. And ultimately everything is for the safety of our students.”
Waco I.S.D.’s Assistant Transportation Director, Monique Brock, said the new surveillance system will help bus drivers manage the 75 students aboard each bus.
“The system we had previously, it was so outdated it was hard to get really good footage,” Brock said. “With these new 360 cameras, while the driver is spending more time focusing on the road and what’s ahead, they have the work of the cameras catching or capturing what it is that they can’t see.”
For the first time in Waco I.S.D.s history, buses were outfitted with GPS tracking systems. The district hopes this will help provide parents with more accurate location data on the whereabouts of their child’s bus. Waco I.S.D. wants to eventually make that location data available to the public in real-time.
“It would be the same system as far as parents are concerned,” Edison said. “If they have any questions just call. Now we’ll have that information right at the tip of our fingers instead of radioing back and forth as to where buses may be.”
Waco I.S.D. hopes the upgrades will provide a better customer experience for the Waco community.
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