Phones, GPS installed in school buses

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The Mobile County Public School System is the first in the region to install a special phone system in its school buses that will track the buses location and speed using GPS.

It's an effort to keep children who use Mobile County’s School bus system, the largest public transit system in Alabama, safe.

"We're transporting precious cargo,” said transportation director Pat Mitchell.

To help ensure that ‘precious cargo’ stays safe on the road, the school system has installed new cell phones on more than 600 buses throughout the county. It’s part of a partnership between the school system and AT&T.

An AT&T official says this is the first system of its kind among school buses in the entire Gulf Coast.

School system officials will use the phones to keep in touch with drivers, and the bus drivers can use them in emergency situations. The drivers will also be able to clock in and out on the phone.

The phones are locked in mounts and installed near the steering wheel. Mitchell says they can only be used when the bus is stopped.

Mitchell said, "[The drivers] simply pull over in a safe location off the road, and push a button on the phone and they can call."

Officials hope the system will keep kids safer and give parents peace of mind.

Mitchell said, "A parent may call and say, 'where is little Johnny?' We want to be able to pull that particular bus up by his number and it will show on the screen where that bus is."