Magnolia ISD is moving forward with a new transportation management system to increase bus rider safety and improve bus driver productivity.
What’s happening?
At its May 12 meeting, the Magnolia ISD board of trustees heard from Chief Support Services Officer Joe Dives about SMART tag and how it will enhance the overall bus-riding experience for the entire district.
“It benefits the students, it benefits the parents, it benefits the bus drivers, it benefits the campuses, it benefits the department of transportation itself and it benefits the district. So it's all encompassed. It's a very robust program,” Dives said.
How it works
SMART tag employs student radio-frequency identification cards, RFID readers, tablets and an app to help monitor bus activity.
SMART tag’s system features include:
- Electronic seating charts
- Pre-trip inspection
- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Authorized, unauthorized and manual loading/unloading
- Authorized guardian pickup
Diving in deeper
At the administration level, SMART tag allows the transportation department to track bus routes in real time and see which students get off and on at each stop. If there is a bus accident, SMART tag will send out an emergency notification to administrators and first responders, Dives said.
In case of an emergency campus evacuation, SMART tag records what students gets on each bus so parents can know where their child is. SMART tag also provides automated bus driver reports.
For parents, they can control their child's transportation schedule through the app and see where their bus is located, Dives said.
The breakdown
District officials said the initial cost to enact SMART tag is approximately $342,320. Those funds will go towards several uses for the first year of service:
- Equipment
- Tablets
- Tablet charging stations
- ID card printer
- GPS
- Staff training
The annual service agreement will then be $97,000, which comprises of routing software, GPS and cloud storage.
Next steps
Dives said SMART tag’s equipment will be installed on buses in late June and early July, with the expectation that it is going to be fully operational by the first day of the 2026-27 school year. This includes special education buses and GPS on the district’s fleet vehicles.
