School Bus Transportation News at STN Media

Perspective:
Wild Rides Made Possible with Google Earth

Ryan Gray | Senior Editor

This February while attending the Transporting Students with Disabilities & Preschoolers 15 th National Conference & Exhibition I had the opportunity to take in Universal Studios Orlando. Besides a bevy of water-themed rides that delivered a dousing on young and old alike two attractions stood out: Incredible Hulk Coaster and The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman. Both rides were thrilling in their own unique ways but inherently they were much different.

Literally the big green machine, Hulk begins innocuously enough on a slight incline leading to what one figures to be the first blood-curdling drop. Instead the car is launched from zero to 40 in two seconds flat. With legs dangling below riders brace themselves for corkscrews, drops, dips and twists all at speeds of up to 67 mph. It might sound like some of your more infamous school bus routes.

Meanwhile, Spiderman owes its allure more to 3-D technology then wind-in-your-face-heart-in-your-throat thrills.

Universal Orlando's Web site says it's the first-ever combination of moving, motion-based ride vehicles, 3-D film and live action. Riders don 3-D glasses before boarding a car in the basement of the Daily Bugle newspaper, for which Spidey's alter-ego Peter Parker is a photographer. What ensues is a crazy tour of New York City, with Spiderman himself clearing a path and villains Dr. Octopus and the Green Lantern in hot pursuit, and at times all too up-close-and-personal.

In preparation for the June issue, which as you know by now continues our discussion on GPS, namely its integration with school bus routing and scheduling software, and I came to the following odd conclusion: Hulk and Spiderman embody the latest advances in school bus technology.

What?

You see the two comic book characters in my opinion personify the best that satellite tracking systems have to offer: the raw power of reporting, real-time monitoring, an intricate system of data transmission; a Web of knowledge if you will.

Google Earth now brings the possibility of a GPS gateway tool to every home, office, cubicle and workstation across the world. And for free, no less. A version exists for $40 with built-in GPS support and the ability to import spreadsheets and drawing tools and for improved printing. The professional version, Google Earth Pro, has a price tag of $400. It offers increased research, presentation and collaboration capabilities. As one industry insider told me, the development amounts to a "quantum leap" in improving school bus operations.

Simply visit http://earth.google.com to download the program, and in minutes a virtual Earth in on your desktop. Information is also available on the Web site regarding system operating requirements, including graphic cards you might need to view the application properly.

Once downloaded, when the application is opened users look down on our planet from space. The variety of controls allows you to zoom in to a specific point on the globe or type in an address or location and be transported there in a matter of seconds. And the school bus GPS market was quick to take note.

Renowned innovator Zonar of Seattle realized it could write its data to be read by the free, open-source program and use Google Earth has an invaluable routing tool. By tying it into GPS transmissions, Zonar used Google's NavTech mapping technology to display real-time school bus routes fed by a local school district complete with plotted points representing pick-ups and drops locations. And you might just see your car parked on the side of the road. It's part tool, part virtual reality game.

Each stop along the actual route is plotted on the Google map and includes the date and time to the second, average speed of the bus and the direction traveled. It's an application worth checking out if you have some downtime this summer.