By ANNA ANNA BEDFORD-DiILLOW, BROOKE KENNY, THE GREENBELT NEWS-REVIEW
Battling ongoing transportation challenges, in September 2023 Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) contracted 4Mativ Technologies to provide a transportation audit for a cost of $210,600. At the start of this school year PGCPS implemented numerous changes including bus stop locations, distances between them, walking zones and, most significantly, school start and end times. The school system also changed its parent information portal and grade center from SchoolMax to ParentVUE/Synergy (see the June 20, 2024, issue). With all the changes, their decision to keep the unpopular and frequently non-functioning StopFinder seems baffling (for more on StopFinder see page 6).
PGCPS’ five-year contract for over $1.3 million with Transfinder, creator of StopFinder, shows it was paid for by another company, BusPatrol, a company that was accused of bribery and corruption by Maryland Delegate David Moon in a 2023 committee hearing. In order to understand why BusPatrol pays for the app, one needs to look at another contract that diverts millions of dollars in traffic fines (for vehicles not stopping for school buses) away from the county and to that same private company, BusPatrol.
Read the full article published by the Greenbelt News-Review.
