-Information courtesy Dr. Stan Winborne, Public Information Officer, Granville County Public Schools

GCPS IS ON THE MOVE – LITERALLY!

You probably see our school buses just about every day at some point on our roads. Chances are, you’ve probably ridden a school bus at some point in your life. But I bet you didn’t know some statistics behind our transportation department, so check this out:

Granville County Public Schools transports an average of 3,662 students per day on 103 buses. Our drivers cover more than 7,600 miles and work more than 298 hours each day.  This works out to a grand total of more than 1,218,200 miles per school year!  YES, that is 1.2 million miles – just in our county!  And, it took more than 182,150 gallons of diesel fuel to do this!  That’s is enough fuel to fill TEN average-sized swimming pools!  Not to mention all of the other fluids, tires, wipers, lights and other stuff that need replacing – just imagine the maintenance required! Our 8 full-time mechanics do an amazing job!

From a safety standpoint, our fleet of buses is constantly being upgraded and modernized. We now have 14 buses equipped with Stop Arm Cameras, designed to catch drivers on video who pass stopped school buses (a big no-no!). Also, all of our buses are equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS). GPS systems allow us to monitor the locations of our buses at all times. We can tell the speed of a bus, when it applies the brakes, and even when it deploys a stop arm. It also allows us to monitor time and attendance of our drivers, which allows for a very accurate account of bus driver hours for payroll.

The GPS system also has a feature called “Comparative Analysis”. This allows us to monitor and maximize the efficiency of our routes as designed by our routing program and compare to what our buses are actually doing. It also lets us offer the “Here Comes the Bus,” a mobile app made available to our parents. Using this app, parents and students are able to view real-time location of their bus. It has meant fewer missed pick-ups, preventing children to not have to wait in the dark, freezing temperatures, or pouring rain. Parents also no longer need to call the school to check the status of the bus.

Finally, did we mention our recent state safety inspection?  We received the best score EVER and beat the regional average score and had NO buses with serious safety infractions.

All in all, we have a pretty amazing Transportation Department full of talented staff, led by Mr. Harry Wilkins. We hope the next time you see one of our buses on the road, you will have a newfound respect and appreciation for the job we do of carrying the most precious cargo on the road – OUR STUDENTS!

#GCPSONTHEMOVE