K-12
Richardson ISD resolves 10+ student incidents in five months with video evidence
With Samsara, this Texas school district went from waiting 10 hours for video footage to having it in minutes, and saved $1 million in installation costs by keeping their existing cameras.
Meet Richardson ISD
348 vehicles
189 school busses
~6,000 students transported daily
The Challenge
An outdated, unreliable system slowed response times
The Richardson Independent School District (ISD) transports 6,000 students every day to and from 50 schools across Texas. Their previous telematics solution wasn't built for operations of that scale, and as the fleet grew, it started to show.
Out of more than 180 buses equipped with GPS, only about 20 units actually worked. The units that did work ran on a 10-minute delay. For David Cartagena, the fleet manager responsible for keeping Richardson ISD's buses running and on schedule, that created real problems. When a driver needed roadside assistance, Cartagena had to locate the bus and dispatch a mechanic. But by the time a bus's location updated on his screen, it had often moved a mile or more. If it took 45 minutes to find the bus, that was 45 minutes of students waiting. With each driver covering three schools—usually an elementary, middle, and high school—those delays added up fast.
Video was stored on outdated, ceramic hard drives inside the buses, but those drives were fragile and couldn't handle the constant vibration of daily routes and failed regularly. Even when they worked, footage could only be downloaded over WiFi after the bus returned. That process took up to 10 hours and frequently failed in the middle of a download. That meant if an incident happened early in the morning, the team might have to wait all day to see the footage. When Cartagena reached out to the vendor for support, he never heard back in a timely manner. The district was on their own.
"Three settlements in a year can cost about half a million dollars. If we can show the video and prove it wasn't the district's fault, AI Multicam pays for itself."
David Cartagena
Fleet Manager
The Solution
Same cameras, more reliable technology, and a safer ride for students
Richardson ISD started looking for a system they could rely on. They decided to partner with Samsara, and quickly rolled out Samsara's AI Multicam across their 189-bus fleet. They were able to keep their existing wide-angle interior cameras, including four located throughout the interior of the bus, by connecting them through the AI Multicam. "With Samsara AI Multicam, I can pull up any bus on the system and see the full 360-degree view inside," said Cartagena. "It gives you total confidence that nothing gets missed. That level of certainty is priceless."
Multiple camera angles gave Richardson ISD the visibility they'd been missing inside the bus with clear, HD video they could rely on. By pairing that video with real-time GPS, they could see where each bus was and what was happening on board.
With that clarity, they launched a structured safety program. They now hold monthly safety meetings and use Samsara training videos to coach drivers on seatbelt use, mobile phone policies, and proper stopping procedures.
"When you have a bus filled with students, that's a huge responsibility. That's why it's so important to us that drivers stay focused and aren't using their phones while driving," Cartagena said.
The Results
$1 million saved. Footage in minutes. 10+ incidents resolved.
With Samsara, Richardson ISD can now locate any bus within minutes of getting a call. They can download video footage in 4 to 8 minutes instead of 10 hours. Driver safety scores saw immediate, dramatic improvement within the first three months as the team held regular training sessions and set clear expectations. The district has resolved more than 10 incidents in five months using video evidence from the AI Multicam.
Now, when something happens on a bus, the district can act fast. Principals can review video before parents even arrive, which leads to quicker resolutions, fewer disputes, and more trust.
That improvement paid off as early as the second week of school. After an incident between two students on a bus, Cartagena pulled up the video footage using Samsara's AI Multicam and had a clear, multi-angle view of what happened. With full-vehicle HD visibility, the district had complete, indisputable evidence to resolve the incident quickly and fairly.
For Cartagena, that clarity is exactly what makes the investment worth it. "Three settlements in a year can cost about half a million dollars," said Cartagena. "If we can show the video and prove it wasn't the district's fault, AI Multicam pays for itself."
And, because AI Multicam is compatible with their existing cameras, the district saved roughly $1 million in equipment costs by keeping those cameras. "Our existing cameras were fairly new. Replacing them would've been close to a million dollars," said Cartagena. Because AI Multicam let us keep all the cameras we already had, it was easy to get the district on board." Richardson ISD can now handle bus incidents quickly and confidently, so the team can stay focused on what matters most: student safety. "Samsara gives you peace of mind that you're doing the job the right way, and keeping students safe," Cartagena said. "That's what the district expects and needs from us."