DISPATCH
Queen Anne County ’ s entire school district fleet is now equipped with :
• Stop-arm enforcement cameras
• LTE connectivity , telemetry , and GPS
• Additional school bus safety features benefiting all student riders : o Cloud-connected interior cameras and safety cameras for school officials o Student rider visibility o Real-time in-cab driver coaching o Electronic verified inspection reporting of school buses “ I am hopeful that this program will educate our county residents and that drivers will not illegally pass a school bus with its lights flashing and stop-arm extended ,” said Sheriff Gary Hofmann . “ This program is for the safety of our kids getting to and from school and even one illegal passing of a school bus is too much !”
“ The global pandemic has had a huge impact on anyone working in student transportation ,” said Margaret Ellen Kalmanowicz , supervisor of transportation at Queen Anne ’ s County Public Schools . “ While buses have been off roads , we ’ ve been working hard to implement new programs and technology like BusPatrol which will improve the health , safety , and wellbeing of students in our school district . Drivers illegally passing school buses has been a problem for years and our bus drivers are delighted to now have their buses fully equipped with stop-arm cameras and safety tech . We are proud to announce the launch of this safety program in Queen Anne ’ s .” “ As school buses return to roads after a brief hiatus , it ’ s important that drivers remember to slow down and stop whenever they see a stopped school bus in Queen Anne ’ s County ,” said Jean Souliere , CEO of BusPatrol . “ It could be your child stepping off or onto the bus that day , and every child deserves to get to school safely . Our safety program changes driver behavior and creates a culture of awareness around the school bus . We know that this works because more than 95 percent of first-time violators do not receive a second ticket . We ’ re proud to partner with Queen Anne ’ s County to prioritize student safety on the road .”
2020 marks major growth year for Transfinder in revenue , clients , employees
Despite a pandemic that closed schools and idled school buses for much of the year , Transfinder Corporation recorded its 23rd consecutive year of revenue growth , reporting $ 18.9 million in revenue , a 13 percent increase over $ 16.75 million in 2019 . Driving the revenue growth was the release of Transfinder ’ s long-awaited Routefinder PLUS browser-based solution in April . The award-winning Routefinder PLUS solution includes Artificial Intelligence Optimization that allowed districts to quickly create multiple “ what if ” scenarios that was a critical feature for districts dealing with constantly changing social distancing guidelines as schools planned how to reopen in the fall . “ Routefinder PLUS provided districts with the exact tool they have been wanting – fast , easy to use , an attractive user interface and intuitive ,” said Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella . Transfinder continued to see an increase in clients choosing to have their data hosted on the cloud . Ninety-four percent of new clients opted to have their data hosted . “ We expect this to continue to increase as more clients grow comfortable with the security measures provided by cloud hosting as well as the easy access they have with browser-based solutions such as Routefinder PLUS ,” Civitella said . In addition , because Routefinder PLUS is browser-based , district transportation officials could work remotely . At the close of 2020 , 5.3 million students traveled 2.4 million miles of routes created with the new PLUS routing software , the equivalent of 10 trips to the moon . Transfinder added 131 new clients in 2020 , with 59 percent of those were previously manually building their routes . The remaining 41 percent left existing software providers for Transfinder ’ s solutions as the pandemic highlighted the need for a robust solution to manage more complicated schedules such as hybrid days caused by the pandemic . “ The percentage of new clients we gained in 2020 was truly awesome ,” Civitella told School BUSRide . “ And they were truly new in the sense that most of them were not previously using any routing software . Their routing was handled manually , but in 2020 that sort of routing became even more cumbersome as result of the pandemic . Now districts are finding ways to implement and deploy advanced routing software .” Transfinder went fully remote on Friday , March 13 . The next day , Civitella decided to offer Transfinder ’ s Stopfinder Communication parent app free to any district in North America , whether they were Transfinder clients or not . That app allows for secure two-way communication between parents and district officials . Because of its speed and security features , many districts also used the app for internal communications . “ We knew that one of the key things districts needed more than anything else was a way to keep their communities in the loop ,” Civitella said . “ We also knew that parents had concerns and didn ’ t want to be waiting on hold . Offering Stopfinder Communication for free was a no-brainer for us as our way to give back to an industry that really stepped up during this crisis .” “ Many districts say , ‘ I don ’ t need it – I do everything manually ,’ or , ‘ I know my routes well enough ,’ Civitella told School BUSRide . “ The pandemic really put those ideas to the test , though .” Transfinder has since extended free use of Stopfinder Communication through until July 2021 . “ We did whatever we could for our clients ,” Civitella told School BUSRide . “ If they didn ’ t stay in business , then we wouldn ’ t either . Sometimes that meant deferring payments or setting up payment plans , but we were ready to do whatever it takes to keep our clients in business .” Transfinder also expanded its headcount in 2020 , adding 37 new team members , up 28 percent from 2019 when 21 employees were hired . He expects hiring to continue throughout 2021 . “ We need more team members in every part of our company , building and improving solutions , selling our solutions and helping new clients train on and implement our solutions ,” Civitella said . “ There is a sense of urgency like never before to get our solutions in the hands of the schools that need it most .” Other accomplishments in 2020 included :
• 131 new clients ( 41 percent previously using a competitor ’ s product )
• Routerfinder PLUS and Stopfinder named Most Innovative Software at Bus Technology Summit
• Hosted 34 “ Best Practices ” webinars with industry leaders focused on navigating the pandemic
• Sponsored multiple industry virtual trade shows
• Named a Times Union Top Workplace
• Released upgrades to a number of products “ We know 2020 was a difficult year for many and we are extremely grateful for the positive results we experienced ,” Civitella said . “ We bonded with our industry in a deeper way this year . We ’ ve said
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