At the NAPT Summit in Cincinnati, Mark Aesch, former CEO of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority in upstate New York and now an author and consultant, delivered a keynote presentation on metrics being the "next big thing" in pupil transportation. These quantitative and qualitative measurements, including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), are necessary to help school administrators as well as taxpayers understand transportation service, and they are here to stay.

"We often hear people in pupil transportation say, ‘We are committed to providing safe, efficient and effective service,'" said Alexandra Robinson, NAPT president and the executive director of transportation for the New York City Department of Education. "But what does that mean exactly? How can you verify that? How do you quantify it? That’s what this project is all about."

About 50 NAPT members volunteered on the spot last fall during the Summit to start conducting research, assess information technology, define metrics and develop the project outline and timeline. Michael Martin, NAPT's executive director, said this KPI project team is evaluating a variety of information technology options and will ultimately select a system that will enable participants to communicate online, quickly, communally, anytime, and without travel.

"The work groups are already making significant progress so much so that we may be able to begin collecting data this spring," added Martin.