The Lake Travis Independent School District has implemented a new SMART tag transportation system for students riding the District’s school buses. When entering and exiting a bus, each student will be required to swipe a pass that is read by a tablet equipped with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) reader, mobile connectivity, and a Global Positioning System. The SMART tag system then will wirelessly transmit the student’s information to the District’s transportation department staff. This will allow the District to verify that students are on the correct bus, to know the names of the students on each bus, and to review a student’s ridership activity. It also provides the location of each bus, as well as notification of an approaching bus.
“We have the tremendous responsibility of transporting our students to and from school each day, and we take that responsibility very serious,” said Lake Travis ISD Director of Transportation Rhonda Davis. “We firmly believe the SMART tag system will provide our parents with added confidence in our transportation services, reassuring them of our commitment to student safety.”
Parents of Lake Travis ISD students will be able to track their children’s bus movements through a secure online portal. Parents also can register for SMART Alert text messages that will notify them when their child is 10-15 minutes from her or his bus stop. This also allows parents to add or remove, through the Parent Portal of the system, those authorized to pick up their children from school.
Only the student’s name and bar code will be printed on the badge. A badge will be required each time students enter and exit a bus, although drivers will not deny transportation services to students if they do not have their badges at boarding time.
“In time, we hope our parents will appreciate the many advantages of the SMART tag system and how it will help improve the safety and security of our students, as well as the efficiency and accuracy of our drivers and transportation personnel,” said Davis.