School Bus Fleet, January 2018

nologies will reshape transportation so pupil transportation leaders need to assess how those developments will impact their operations in the years to come and plan accordingly I do believe that 10 to 15 years from now were going to have vehicles without drivers on the road so we need to be prepared for that Melleady said He also addressed why so much time and effort not to mention money are being invested in advancing autonomous vehicles In short Melleady said Automation can be a tool for solving problems That may include improving safety by eliminating vehicle collisions caused by human factors Also self driving technology promises to increase mobility for those who cant drive themselves including the elderly Melleady also suggested that vehicle automation could at some point help with another current problem driver shortage Do you think autonomous vehicles will impact your labor shortage he asked attendees I think it might The first question Is it relevant to safety she said echoing Edgerlys earlier comments After that how will it assist the driver in doing everyday duties Meanwhile with the ongoing development of vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communication vehicles will eventually talk to each other and their surroundings Some cities including conference host Columbus are working to transform themselves into smart cities to accommodate these types of advances School buses Kilgore noted will have to ramp up to remain relevant in this more complicated more connected world Transportation as we know it is actually going to change Kilgore said We have to change with it as an industry The presentation then took a surprising twist as Thomas Built introduced a new electric school bus see pg 22 In another NAPT session Raymond Melleady executive vice president of USSC Group reinforced the notion that automated and connected vehicle tech21 JANUARY 2018 SCHOOL BUS FLEET then helps the driver park by steering into the space Engine manufacturer Detroit also a Daimler brand took the demonstration a step further In front of the crowd of conference attendees a driver manned a Freightliner truck simulator while wearing virtual reality goggles The live simulation was displayed on the big screens as the driver tapped into Detroit Assurance technologies like adaptive cruise control lane departure warnings and active brake assist Those types of features are now available on the Freightliner Cascadia and other trucks Bringing back the school bus connection Leslie Kilgore vice president of engineering for Thomas Built said that the Mercedes and Detroit technologies are available to Thomas Built as part of the Daimler family Even so Kilgore added they arent all necessarily the right fit for the yellow bus and manufacturers have to be mindful of that as they think forward Future Left After the unveiling of Thomas Builts new electric bus attendees checked out whats not under the hood an engine The electric motor is near the rear axle Right This convention center feature turned a lot of heads Conference goers could step into a booth in which 32 cameras took photos to create a 3 D image Call it a super selfie