New buses, new features

Technology has become a part of everyday life and is beginning to become integrated in many everyday objects.

The newest technology at MV is on the busses, where many new features are being added.

The first change with the busses is they will have external cameras. These cameras are placed on the stop sign located on the side of the bus.

If a vehicle continues to drive past the bus when the stop sign is extended, bus drivers are supposed to report the incident. This will allow police to follow the suspect and pull them over. They will then investigate the case and why the driver continued to speed past the bus.

Another reason this will help with is vehicles that illegally pass busses on a main road. Often times a school bus must drive slowly because of the amount of students on the bus. They have to be much more cautious because of the size of the vehicle they are operating and the amount of students on the bus. The cars who decide to illegally pass a bus are putting themselves, any person in their car, people on the bus, and other surrounding vehicles in danger.

The second new feature of the busses is an app called “Here Comes The Bus.”

“Here Comes The Bus” will allow parents and students to track where their bus is. Students will not have to stand outside in the freezing weather, but rather be able to walk outside when the bus is coming. This works not only for the bus the student rides, but also to track other busses if there is a substitute for the day.

According to the MVCSC website, “Currently three busses have the program installed. Throughout the next two months, busses will be rolled out one by one with the program until the entire fleet has installed it.”

There is more information about this app at www.mvcsc.k12.in.us/HereComesTheBus or under the parent drop down on the school’s website.

Lastly, all MV busses will be equipped with wifi. Any student who rides the bus will have access to this wifi.

Kaesyn Herzog, 11, said, “When the buses have wifi, it will give me an opportunity to finish homework on the way home, which in the long run, takes a lot of stress off of me. I also think that having an app that tells when the bus is near me will be very beneficial in the winter, so I don’t have to go outside in the cold to wait for the bus to come. External cameras are also a great idea so we can catch people who don’t stop while children are boarding.”

This will allow students to contact parents, play games, or do homework on their Chromebooks or Ipads.

All of these new enhancements will provide a great change to MV busses, but in the end it will benefit both teachers and students.