The Park City School District is in the final stages of implementing a new GPS tracking system for its 33 school buses, along with giving each student a Zpass that they will scan when they get onto and off the bus. According to Park City School District transportation secretary Amy Jones, they will be using a computer program called Zonar, to track who is getting on and off the bus and where. She said the purpose of the new program is for the safety of the students.

“We have had problems with students getting on the wrong bus, or going to different stops,” she said. “We can get on the computer and track that little Johnny got on bus #12 today and he was suppose to be on #14, so it helps up keep track of those students.”

According to Park City School District Office of Transportation Supervisor Greg Proffit, they are working to make the school bus system state-of-the-art, with Park City School District Director of Transportation Services Brent Chaston, heading up the project.

“He’s influential at the state and national level,” Proffit said. “The district is trying to automate and innovate with technology, safety and efficiency.”

According to Chaston, the Cash and Alpine school districts have already put a similar system into place. He said PCSD has implemented the whole package, including GPS for all the buses and a camera system that shows what is going on in and around the bus. The cost will be $100,000 to the school district. Chaston said cutting down on idling time and coming up with more efficient bus routes using GPS will help the system pay for itself.

“We can track our buses on a field trip, we can get it fixed quicker and law enforcement there sooner if the bus breaks down. We can also track how fast a bus is going and we know what time they arrive and where they are at,” he said. “We’re trying to keep the kids safer and as I talk with directors across the state, they have the same concerns.”

He said other school districts across the nation installed the system years ago and now that it’s more affordable, Chaston said the school district jumped on board and started planning for the project last year. Now that the system in installed, Chaston said they are training employees on to use it.

“As it goes on, we’ll learn how to use it better, but I always say ‘what’s the cost of a child?’ and this community is really concerned with the safety of its children.”