In this day and age, all bus drivers (school and city buses) have the ability to communicate with their dispatchers. Drivers are REQUIRED to communicate situations where a diversion from route is necessary due to traffic, unsafe road conditions (like ice, etc), or an accident. They cannot simply change the route on their own judgement without telling dispatch. The fact that JW's bus was "discovered" to be off route is very telling-- he did not communicate the diversion to anyone in dispatch, or have permission to divert his route.
In our area, metro buses, light rail, and heavy rail are also tracked with GPS. I know school buses have GPS data stored, but I'm not sure if school buses can be tracked in real time or not, or perhaps they only call up real time data if there is a delay or problem and the driver is not responding. IMO, all school buses should be able to be tracked in real time, and parents should be able to subscribe to the real time data for the bus their child rides. That's such a cheap and easy implementation, I can't believe it hasn't been done nationwide. That could add a layer of safety for all kids, as their responsible adults could subscribe to their bus routes and know on their smart phones when they are on time or delayed, bus speed, and where the bus is.
If my daughter is late to school due to a metro transportation delay, I am able to obtain the GPS data from her bus or train route to ensure her tardy is excused, versus unexcused.
