The fourth annual STN EXPO Innovation Choice Awards program returns to STN EXPO 2025 in Reno, Nevada.
The program is open to any individual, organization or authorized agent that exhibits at STN EXPO West and promotes school transportation products. The four categories are Best Hardware, Best Software, Best Safety Technology, and Best Green Bus Technology. Attendees can vote on-site July 13 through July 15. (Editor’s Note: No submissions for Green Bus Technology voting were received at this report.)
Attendees can scan QR codes at each participating exhibitor booth to cast votes during the STN EXPO Trade Show and Magical Networking Event on July 14 and the Trade Show on July 15. Winners will be announced at a later date.
View the list of exhibitor products below. Exhibitors submitted their own product descriptions that have been edited for space and clarity.
AlphaRoute (Booth 113)
Category: Best Software
Product/Solution: Alphie AI by AlphaRoute
Meet Alphie—the smart, simple and secure AI assistant built to make every routing professional’s life easier. Your district routing team already knows the right questions to ask. But digging through massive datasets to find meaningful answers can be tedious and time-consuming. That process is much faster in AlphaRoute’s intuitive software, but why bother making even a few clicks when Alphie can answer your question immediately? This user-friendly tool lets your team ask plain-language questions like, “Which routes consistently run late?” or, “What route is Johnny currently assigned to?” And it delivers instant results, from summary stats to detailed charts. From metrics for morning meetings to data deep-dives that fix recurring headaches, Alphie AI delivers clarity in seconds. Precise, insightful, and easy to use—just ask Alphie!
AngelTrax (Booth 628)
Category: Best Hardware, Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: Vulcan Series BEV360 Bird’s Eye View 360-Degree Camera System
Developed specifically to keep kids safer around the school bus, the BEV360 Bird’s Eye View 360-Degree Camera System is your school bus fleet’s next step toward safer students and safer streets. Using AI detection technology, the BEV360 identifies students around the school bus in real time and warns the driver when students enter the danger zone in close proximity to the bus. The BEV360 features four 1080P cameras for a panoramic view of the vehicle’s surrounding area, a seven-inch monitor for the driver’s real-time reference, and a system control box for storage and AI technology. The system captures clear video and stitches all views together, forming a 360-degree bird’s eye view displayed on the monitor. The BEV360 has two microSD card slots for recording as a stand-alone unit and is compatible with Vulcan Series recording units for simultaneous recording of additional cameras and for live view and live tracking features when equipped with optional software and an active Internet connection.
Blue Bird (Booth 321)
Category: Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: 4Front
Ensure driver safety and minimize the impact of frontal crashes with IMMI’s 4Front frontal airbag for school buses. The robust size and weight of these vehicles make them susceptible to severe collisions, underscoring the importance of advanced safety measures. IMMI’s 4Front airbag provides essential protection for bus drivers, reducing the risk of injuries in frontal accidents. Elevate your commitment to safety on the road and prioritize driver well-being with this innovative solution, a crucial addition to any school bus aiming for a safer and more secure driving experience.
Bosch (Booth 300)
Category: Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: MHT Front Camera ADAS
School buses carry our most precious cargo to our most valued institutions. Bosch has brought some of its most advanced technology to help significantly reduce our nation’s school buses from collisions with others on the road. Be it children running to get to the bus stop, bicyclists sharing the road on their way to school, or other vehicles making abrupt lane changes, our Bosch Front Camera Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) can actively help to prevent and minimize possible incidents. For increased safety, our Bosch Front Camera ADAS solution can also assist to maintain the school bus in its lane if the bus driver gets distracted, and even warn the bus driver if driving above the posted speed limit. Below are a list of features that can be added to any school bus: Collision mitigation by Brake Lane Keep Assist, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, and traffic sign recognition.
Confluence Security (Booth 142)
Category: Best Software
Product/Solution: District Security Center Fleet Monitor
Confluence Security is redefining what’s possible in school bus security solutions. We move beyond the outdated model of isolated bus DVRs and introduce a modern, Open-Architecture Enterprise Security Platform purpose-built for K–12 pupil transportation. As school districts adopt unified security ecosystems across campuses, the lack of true integration options for school buses has become a major gap. Confluence Security fills that gap. We educate the pupil transportation market on the advantages of combining best-in-class components from multiple manufacturers into a single, unified platform—one that delivers intelligent, accurate, and immediate data to Security Operators, empowering proactive intervention.
We call this approach: ProAction! Our platform builds on the included fundamental features of security systems such as: Bi-directional live video and audio, access control, license plate recognition, IoT sensor integration, and real-time network management.
These standard features work in concert to enable AI-verified event notifications delivered to the appropriate responders. Whether it’s SROs, school deans, or local 911/LE dispatch, authorized personnel can view live video and audio to interact with students and drivers. Our Federation-as-a-Service (FaaS) model enables secure sharing of information across internal departments and external agencies without the need for direct IT network connections. This secure cloud tool promotes effective collaboration during incidents, allowing for immediate teamwork while maintaining organizational independence.
To further streamline response, our platform offering features Intelligent Automation, guiding operators with real-time decision support and response protocols. Events are logged, categorized and stored using cloud-based digital evidence management systems (DEMS) – fully integrated with law enforcement CAD/RMS systems. All digital evidence is stored in a government-grade, secure cloud environment and organized by case number, forever.
Fulfilling CORA/FOIA requests is now as simple as sending an email with a permission-based link, reducing processing time from days to mere minutes. In an era where AI and advanced analytics are transforming school security, transportation systems are still largely bound by analog, proprietary, and siloed technologies. At Confluence Security, we’re working relentlessly to change that. Through evidence-based research and development, we’re bringing the power of enterprise-grade, intelligent security to school bus fleets – ensuring they are as secure, connected, and capable as the school buildings they serve.
First Student (Booth 542)
Category: Best Software
Product/Solution: HALO
HALO is First Student’s proprietary, purpose-built technology platform designed to fundamentally transform how school transportation is managed, delivered and experienced. Unlike off-the-shelf solutions retrofitted for school use, HALO was developed from the ground up by the largest K-12 transportation provider in North America to meet the specific needs of school districts, drivers and families. HALO unifies every key aspect of transportation operations, routing, vehicle maintenance, safety monitoring, driver management, EV charging, vehicle tracking, and real-time communication, into one seamless, intelligent system. The result is a data-driven platform that gives school districts live visibility into day-to-day operations, equips drivers with intuitive tools that enhance performance and safety, and delivers families real-time transparency and peace of mind. The impact is real and widely recognized across the industry. HALO isn’t just a concept, but a proven platform delivering measurable results in efficiency, accountability, and service quality. It’s redefining what’s possible in student transportation.
Category: Best Software
Product/Solution: First View
First View, powered by HALO, is transforming how school districts and families experience student transportation, bringing real-time visibility, reliable communication and peace of mind to every ride. First View is a secure, GPS-based tracking and communication platform that connects school transportation teams with the families they serve. Through the district dashboard, administrators gain operational control and system-wide visibility. The parent mobile app empowers caregivers with timely, accurate updates on their student’s trip, whether on a yellow bus or alternative vehicle. With First View, districts can: Monitor the status of every vehicle and trip in real time, track both school bus and alternative transportation journeys, send instant service alerts to families for delays or route changes, review trip history and vehicle details for greater transparency. Plus, families can track their student’s bus or vehicle in real time, monitor multiple students from one account, receive customizable ETA alerts and notifications and plan their day with confidence, knowing exactly when and where their student’s vehicle will arrive. Already in use by over 13,000 schools across 605 school districts and trusted by more than half a million parents, First View is delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, communication and family experience. As the most used vehicle tracking app by a K-12 transportation provider, it’s not just innovation in theory, it’s innovation in action, making school transportation safer, smarter, and less stressful for everyone involved.
Freedman by Lippert (Booth 447)
Category: Best Safety technology
Product/Solution: SeatLink
Freedman’s SeatLink Seat Tracking Information System is designed to enhance passenger safety across various bus types—including school, paratransit, midsize, and heavy-duty buses—by providing real-time monitoring and reporting of seat occupancy and seatbelt usage. This advanced system supports up to 90 passengers and uses wireless communication between individual seat modules and a centralized head unit display. It alerts drivers to critical safety conditions, such as when a seat is occupied without the seat belt fastened, when the belt is engaged before the seat is occupied, or when a module experiences a low battery or malfunction. With battery-powered or optional wired modules, IP67 compliance for durability, and Intermittent Fault Filter (IFF) technology to reduce false readings, SeatLink delivers a robust, scalable solution that directly supports safer passenger transport and more informed oversight.
Geotab (Booth 523)
Category: Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: Geotab Vitality
Geotab’s new driver retention and rewards program, Geotab Vitality is here! Telematics platforms like Geotab can tell you about what your drivers can do to be more safe, but often the coaching process costs you drivers. Geotab Vitality is a “carrot” program where drivers earn rewards for good behavior, see the things that they could do to earn rewards faster by driving safer and collect their gift cards all in one app or portal. Learn how AI determines collision risk and rewards drivers, while giving transportation directors what they need to get kids to and from school safe and sound.
HopSkipDrive (Booth 125)
Category: Best Software, Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: HopSkipDrive RideIQ | Specialty Transportation
HopSkipDrive is revolutionizing student transportation with new offerings included in RideIQ, an innovative platform that seamlessly manages diverse student needs, including those requiring wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs), rider assistants, and car seats. This expansion, coupled with our industry-leading safety protocols and technological advancements, positions HopSkipDrive as the best-in-class software for student transportation.
Wheelchair-Accessible Vehicles (WAV): Ride organizers can book, track and manage WAV rides directly within the HopSkipDrive RideIQ platform — all in one place for simpler, more consolidated ride management. This new offering is designed to provide seamless ride booking for students who require wheelchair-accessible vehicles, live ride status and visibility across RideIQ and daily queue platforms, and direct communication with the driver for all rides. WAV rides will be fulfilled by educated, vetted CarePartner drivers using specially equipped vehicles, giving your riders a safe and reliable transportation experience. Rider Assistants: For riders who require extra support, HopSkipDrive’s Rider Assistant program provides an additional adult to be present during the ride. Ride organizers can request a rider assistant for a ride directly in RideIQ with live ride tracking and real-time status updates. On-site staff will be able to see in RideIQ which rides include a Rider Assistant. Additionally, rider assistants are vetted and background-checked and receive education to support students with special needs. This service is designed to help meet IEP transportation requirements, ease transitions and provide students who need extra attention with support from pickup to drop-off.
Car Seat Rides for Ages 4 Through 6: Ride organizers can now book rides for younger students needing a car seat directly through HopSkipDrive, with a highly vetted CareDriver who will arrive with approved car seats. Our car seat program was developed in collaboration with leading child safety experts and is led by Britney Lombard, a former Safe Kids Worldwide specialist. It’s backed by our Safety Advisory Council to ensure the highest safety standards.
Safe Ride InSight: HopSkipDrive’s new in-ride camera program, designed to add a new layer of safety and transparency for both riders and CareDrivers. Safe Ride InSight automatically records designated rides using dual-camera dashcams (forward-facing and interior) and captures video and audio that operates alongside our advanced telematics system. Safe Ride InSight is available only on select rides where enabled at the rider level, with strict privacy and data protocols. Now, with Safe Ride InSight, ride organizers can confidently book rides for students, knowing there’s enhanced accountability and greater peace of mind, backed by HopSkipDrive’s industry-leading safety program.
LockNClimb, LLC (Booth 101)
Category: Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: 44LNCTRKENG
This rolling ergonomic safety ladder with its 44-inch-high platform has revolutionized the way bus maintenance technicians can reach most all service points around the exterior of the school bus. It has been designed with input from safety managers, shop supervisors and mechanics. Its wide base slides around the tires and under the bus carriage to allow close working access to engines, windshields, running lights, top edges, rear lights and door frames. Technicians climb using the OSHA recommended three points of contact between yellow safety handrails to the extra wide slip resistant platform to perform their work. Proven to prevent costly accidents and injuries, these ladders provide a stable and comfortable working platform that increases efficiency, productivity and morale, thus positively affecting the organization’s bottom line. These ladders are built one at a time in the USA and have been engineered to meet all applicable OSHA and ANSI standards. They are OSHA rated 1AA Special Purpose and tested to exceed ANSI 375lbs. Currently used by bus and trucking companies all over North America.
Mayser USA (Booth 444)
Category: Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: Drag Detection Door Seals
Redesigning school bus door seals with electrical sensitive edges to be able to detect all obstructions. This includes objects as small as a backpack strap, thus creating an ‘anti-drag’ door system. Every year, multiple kids are dragged by school buses and injured, and this anti-drag solution prevents this accident from ever occurring. The state of Maine has also mandated obstruction detection on all school buses sold in Maine starting in 2025.
Pro-Vision (Booth 120)
Category: Best Software
Product/Solution: CloudConnect 4G Live
CloudConnect 4G Live takes school bus video management to the next level with real-time streaming and remote video uploads over 4G. Instantly view live footage from any vehicle and retrieve video files without waiting for vehicles to return to Wi-Fi range. It’s a secure, cloud-based solution that eliminates manual downloads, simplifies access and enhances situational awareness across your fleet. With automatic event uploads, system health monitoring and customizable user access, CloudConnect delivers complete control, anytime, anywhere—helping you respond faster, reduce downtime and improve operational efficiency. It’s the future of bus video, available today.
Transfinder (Booth 201)
Category: Best Hardware, Best Software, Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: Stopfinder Digital Card ID
Student ID cards could become a thing of the past with this technological advancement, turning a student’s cellphone into their ID card. Students with Android or IOS phones can scan when entering the bus for ridership tracking purposes. This advancement eliminates the need for substituting RFID cards and/or replacing lost costs. This technology augments Transfinder’s parent app Stopfinder, providing parents peace of mind that their child made the bus and tracking the bus’s location.
Wayfinder Reader: With the latest advancement in Wayfinder embedded tablet and reader hardware, communication breakdowns that result from a bus breakdown are a thing of the past. Interaction between the hardware (reader and tablet) is seamless so when a driver removes their tablet from a broken-down bus and installs it on another bus, the information about the “new” bus is read and delivered to users of the Stopfinder parent app. No longer will transportation staff need to scramble to communicate with parents about the bus change or field calls from concerned parents who are no longer seeing their child’s bus moving along a planned route.
Category: Best Hardware, Best Software, Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: Transfinder Enterprise
Route Visibility: Transfinder’s Wayfinder ETA Dashboard and its real-time capability can now be shared with school building personnel and other stakeholders in Viewfinder, identifying when a bus will be arriving at a stop or a school building. A bus can be seen on a map in real-time, where the bus is headed on the planned path, how long the path is and if the bus is off path, what adjustment will be made to return safely on path while abiding with the safety algorithms set by the routers. The increase in communication with dispatchers and routers allows them to understand what is happening during the routes and make changes on up-to-the-minute conditions. With this capability, communication is enhanced among key stakeholders.
Attendance Routing: The driver app, Wayfinder, can also automatically generate the most efficient route based on who is getting on the bus. For example, a late bus can have different students riding different days depending on the activities they participate in. When students scan their ID cards as they get on the late bus, for example, the safest and most efficient route is created for the driver.
Posts: Users can post on any record type, such as a student, trip or vehicle to facilitate a conversation around that record. That information is accessible across all Transfinder solutions. This makes critical information available to key personnel. For example, the posts (pictures, texts or other data) can provide details about problems related to stops or vehicles or ongoing behavioral issues with students.
Student Lookup: Viewfinder expands its capabilities for student lookup to include not just RFID and bar/QR codes but student phones as well, so teachers walking through the halls can scan to have access to pertinent information.
Category: Best Hardware, Best Software, Best Safety Technology
Product/Solution: Map Incidents
Transfinder tackles a continuing and growing concern of students crossing busy and dangerous streets by adding functionality in Routefinder PLUS to view where students not just cross the street to get on the bus but what streets they cross on their way to the bus. With PLUS, users can embed trip and street data and logic into their maps and trips, making it easier for routers to design safer trips. This data is then seen on the driver app, Wayfinder, informing drivers which students are going to be crossing. PLUS, also gives control to routers to create only right stop pickups for particular grades or specific streets, forbidding crossing on certain streets. In addition, routers and dispatchers can add map incidents in real-time that will route drivers away from problem areas (such as a flooded road). Drivers can also identify on the Wayfinder tablet issues at a particular stop that routers can review and address. Another feature includes alerting drivers as they approach railroad crossings.
Tyler Technologies (Booth 501)
Category: Best Hardware
Product/Solution: Tyler Drive’s Dynamic Student Routing
Unexpected ridership changes and last-minute route adjustments can lead to delays and confusion — especially during after-school activities or emergencies. Tyler Drive’s Dynamic Student Routing empowers drivers to create real-time, on-the-spot routes based on students who scan onto the bus. Whether managing an impromptu after-school run or responding to an emergency evacuation where standard routes aren’t feasible, this solution ensures students are transported home quickly, safely, and efficiently — without guesswork.
Category: Best Software
Product/Solution: Student Transportation
Ensuring every student arrives safely and on time — while keeping parents informed and operations running smoothly — requires a proven transportation solution built for the modern school environment. Tyler’s integrated Student Transportation platform delivers exactly that. From vehicle routing and automatic vehicle location (AVL) to activity trip planning, fleet maintenance and a connected parent app, every module works seamlessly together. In-vehicle tablets further enhance safety and performance by supporting pre- and post-trip inspections, real-time student ridership tracking, driver communication, turn-by-turn navigation, and dynamic routing capabilities. The result? A safer, and more responsive transportation system — for districts, contractors, drivers, and families alike.
