Prince George's schools prepare for bus system upgrade when in-person learning resumes

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. (ABC7) — Prince George's County Public Schools is preparing for major transportation changes whenever school resumes.

School leaders held a townhall Thursday night to answer questions and address some of those changes.

Many of the changes stem from concerns from parents regarding on-time arrival.

During the presentation, school leaders said there will be more consolidated trips with less frequent stops and GPS enabled tablets with turn-by-turn directions.

That could prove particularly helpful for substitute drivers who may not be as familiar with certain routes.

"That's good because I know sometimes my daughter used to say, 'Ma! My goodness! We had this one bus driver, and he didn't know where he was going," said Tonya Johnson a parent of a middle schooler.

The plan is for a much different picture than when 7 On Your Side first spoke with Johnson in October of 2019.

"When I called the bus transportation, they were like, 'Oh, she's ten minutes late.' Then when I called back, they were like, 'Oh, she's going to be 30 minutes late,'" Tonya Johnson told 7 On Your Side.

At the time, PGCPS Chief Operating Officer Barry Stanton admitted to 7 On Your Side it was a major issue.

"Let me apologize to our parents and our students for our buses being late," he said. "My number one concern is the safety of our students getting to school on time."

Since then, a task force has come up with a number of solutions that CEO Dr. Monica Goldson says will be implemented over the next three years.

Some of those recommendations will be implemented when students return.

In addition to the GPS-enabled tablets and consolidated trips, there will also be an upgraded app for parents to track where the buses are located as well as interior and exterior cameras with stop arm cameras generating citations for violators.

And while Johnson isn't planning on having her daughter ride the bus when in-person learning resumes, she thinks the changes will be beneficial.

The pandemic has also brought on a number of other changes.

School leaders say there will be enhanced cleanings and a mask requirement for the more than 85,000 bus riders in the system.

"At the end of the day, we're going to hold our parents accountable to make sure our kids have the proper PPE and wearing masks when they get on the bus," said Stanton.

School leaders are also predicting less students on the bus at any given time because of the hybrid model that will be used when students return.

A lot of parents still have a question whether there will be enough drivers, especially given a national shortage.

"While we are making progress, we do have a ways to go and that does have great impact on our ability to deliver the type of service that we want to," said PGCPS Director of Transportation Dr. Rudy Saunders.