School Bus Transportation News at STN Media

Editor's Perspective

The Virtual Reality of Driver Training

Ryan Gray | Senior Editor

Driver training. Driver management. Driver retention.

Who’d have thought those key issues could be related to video games?
It’s amazing how things can be inter-related.

Amid concern over “Big Brother” watching drivers through onboard school bus cameras and touchy unionization negotiations, an innovative virtual reality simulator is trying to make its case as a school bus driver training tool. It’s still in the conceptual phases, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Since 2004, Western Nevada Community College has provided novice driver training consisting of one hour of simulator work, four days a week in its computer lab. And it has a very big school bus upside.

It’s all the brain child of Ron Kendall, a retired substitute teacher in nearby Carson City, Nev., who himself experienced a need for improved driver training six years ago. Kendall had undergone an outpatient sinus surgery that included complications. Four days later he had a seizure, and it took six doctors and 52 different prescriptions before they realized he suffered from a salt deficiency. Three months later he was finally cleared to drive.

But because Kendall had some initial memory loss, he opted for refresher courses through the DMV and the American Association of Retired People’s Driver Safety Program, both of which were classroom exercises but didn’t test his mettle on the pedal.

Soon thereafter, his wife was involved fender bender, lost four points on her license and was required to take another four-hour class.

“That’s when I thought, ‘There has to be a better way to train drivers,’” he said. “That’s how I found simulators.”

He researched the topic and learned of Systems Technology, a research and development firm in Hawthorne, Calif., specializing in systems analysis, including vehicle dynamics and control and related human/machine interaction and human factors. Systems Technology had developed its STISIM impaired driver simulator for the Tucson, Ariz., Police Department to gauge human factors that alcohol and drugs has on vehicle operation, as well as medical research and assessment of driver education. With a high-speed graphic interface, a personal or laptop computer loaded with the simulator software and attached to the additional hardware of a monitor, a driving wheel and accelerator and brake pedals allows STISIM to measure collision data, brake and throttle, steering and handling, and it even provides a scenario playback feature.

Kendall approached Western Nevada CC with the idea and, after securing funds from the Nevada Public Insurance Agency Pool to pay for the Systems Technology software upgrades, the course went into development. The Nevada Highway Patrol soon became interested at Kendall’s urging, and a grant for the system there is pending. Now Kendall is turning his sights toward school buses.

“Ron extended the idea because local school districts have to train a lot of drivers and there’s a reasonable amount of turnover,” said R. Wade Allen, president and technical director of Systems Technology. “He’s a real advocate.”

Interested parties include Dr. Keith Rheault, the superintendent for the Nevada Department of Education, as well as the county school districts of Carson City, Douglas and Washoe, at least to take a look. Most school districts prefer to get a driver trained and on the road as soon as possible, and the real-world experience that provides. And for others with small fleets, maybe those that even have an abundance of rural area perfect for training, a simulator might not make as much sense. Still, like Bob Murphy, Douglas County’s fleet maintenance supervisor, sees it, a simulator could offer the opportunity to develop a database for training issues that holds all drivers to the same standard.

At the very least it offers an opportunity to look outside the box.

Now, Systems Technology and Kendall want to obtain a school bus, chop off the front end and outfit it with the computer hardware and software to turn it into a traveling simulator for all schools.

In fact, Kendall and the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County were scheduled on Sept. 22 to demonstrate the imbedded simulator to representatives from Douglas, Lyon, Story and Washoe county school districts, with the latter even supplying a real school bus for drivers.

It remained to be seen where this idea might go, but it was evident emerging technology remains to have a place somewhere in the school bus world. One day, this latest virtual idea might even become a reality.