Transforming Public Sector Fleet Safety: How AI-Powered Solutions Drive Results and Build Employee Trust

Posted on by Andrew Phelps

Despite advancements in vehicle safety technology, fatal vehicle crashes continue to rise. Notably, 87% of commercial vehicle crashes are caused by avoidable risky driving or driver error. For Public Sector fleet managers—whether overseeing school buses, emergency response vehicles or other municipal fleets—these trends jeopardize public safety, strain budgets and put essential services at risk.

Recent research shows the Public Sector is leading the way in addressing these challenges. While 32% of organizations globally have adopted artificial intelligence (AI), 58% of Public Sector organizations in the U.S. have done so, and 95% plan to increase their AI investments in the coming year.

The Critical Need for AI-Powered Fleet Safety Solutions

The Public Sector’s strong AI adoption reflects its commitment to smarter, more reliable service delivery. Solutions like Samsara’s Connected Operations Platform are transforming fleet management by integrating data from vehicles, assets and operations to enhance safety, efficiency and sustainability. Rather than solely relying on reactive measures, AI-powered tools enable drivers to self-correct in real time and give fleet managers predictive insights to prevent incidents before they occur.

AI is increasingly being applied across several key areas that directly impact public safety. Early implementations focus on driver behavior detection, predictive maintenance and fleet health monitoring to reduce downtime and ensure vehicle readiness. In parallel, AI-powered tools support route optimization and dispatch efforts, helping agencies respond faster and operate more efficiently. This shift from basic automation to proactive operations management marks a significant evolution in fleet safety.

Addressing Road Safety Challenges and Rising Costs

Public Sector fleets are facing growing road safety challenges that carry significant financial consequences. With crashes costing an estimated $340 billion annually, and insurance premiums rising 40% over the past decade, the impact on taxpayer-funded operations is substantial. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform reports that litigation costs have grown over 7% annually from 2016 to 2022, adding financial pressure on State and Local Government budgets. Every crash related cost diverts funding away from essential services like education, infrastructure and public health.

Samsara, Fleet Safety, blog, embedded image, 2025

Traditional safety measures alone are no longer sufficient. Distractions from mobile devices have surged—those who text and drive are 23 times more likely to crash. Speeding contributed to 29% of crash fatalities in 2022, and even a one- to two-hour sleep deficit can double crash risk. These preventable behaviors create challenges for Public Sector drivers who often work long shifts to meet community needs.

Technology like Samsara’s Connected Operations Platform offer a proactive solution to today’s fleet challenges. By providing real-time fleet visibility, driver coaching and predictive analytics, agencies can identify risky behaviors before they lead to incidents. Fleets that implement safety solutions often see a return on investment (ROI) within the first year through reduced collision costs, lower insurance premiums, decreased vehicle downtime and improved operational efficiency. For example:

The City of Sacramento, California, saved $300,000 in fuel costs.
The City of Allentown, Pennsylvania, saved an estimated $1 million in insurance claims.
Canyons School District in Utah reduced incidents by 50%.

Safety Technology Proves Effective and Resonates with Drivers

Driver buy-in is key for successful safety technology implementation. Research shows that 70% of drivers feel dash cams make driving safer, and 93% report becoming more aware of distracted driving after reviewing footage. Most notably, 90% of drivers prefer to stay with organizations that actively support safe driving habits.

When paired with real-time coaching, dash cams can reduce safety-related events by 52%. Samsara’s Connected Operations Platform enables drivers to self-correct through in-cab feedback. For example, Gwinnett County Public Schools reduced incident investigation times by 50% and harsh braking events by 60% in just three months, saving 400 administrative hours weekly and improving safety for 180,000 students with Samsara.

Strategies for Gaining Union Buy-In for Safety Technology

In unionized environments, successful technology implementation requires collaboration and transparency. The first step is establishing shared safety goals with input from fleet managers, drivers, union representatives, risk managers and administrators. Research shows that 100% of Public Sector leaders using or planning to use AI report positive employee perceptions when communication is clear and involvement is meaningful.

Unions often express concerns that dash cams could be used punitively. To address this, organizations should involve union representatives in shaping policies around data access, privacy safeguards and usage protocols. This collaboration builds trust and ensures policies reflect both operational needs and union priorities.

Transparency is critical: organizations must clearly document data access, usage guidelines and privacy protections, providing view-only administrative access to key union representatives and sharing audit logs of system changes maintains accountability and reassures unions that the technology is used fairly and appropriately.

Real-world exoneration stories highlight technology’s protective value. For instance, the City of Boynton Beach, used dashcam footage to exonerate a driver initially cited for rear-ending another vehicle; the evidence revealed the other driver was at fault, resulting in dismissal of the citation, legal claims being dropped and preventing unwarranted disciplinary action. Such cases show that safety technology protects drivers from false accusations and costly legal proceedings.

Public Sector organizations are uniquely positioned to leverage AI-powered fleet safety solutions that transform operations, build employee trust and deliver measurable ROI. With proven safety technology and collaborative implementation, agencies can achieve meaningful improvements in safety, cost control and operational efficiency—all while prioritizing transparency, employee engagement and shared safety goals.

Learn more about workforce technology trends transforming the Public Sector by exploring Samsara’s comprehensive research report.

Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator for our vendor partners, including Samsara, we deliver solutions for Geospatial, Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Artificial Intelligence, Customer Experience and Engagement, Open Source and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Explore the Carahsoft Blog to learn more about the latest trends in Government technology markets and solutions, as well as Carahsoft’s ecosystem of partner thought-leaders.

Improve Airport Operations, Efficiency and Oversight with GIS Technology

Posted on by Andrew Kimbrough and Mike Beavers

As airports are experiencing a significant growth in passenger volumes, they face increasingly complex demands on infrastructure and operations. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology that collects, stores, manages, analyzes, and outputs spatial and nonspatial data, is essential for improving efficiency, ensuring safety, and maintaining customer satisfaction at airports. By integrating data from multiple sources, and by providing a comprehensive view of operations, GIS is being used to ingest and analyze real-time data feeds to support operations. GIS tools are deployed at airports to monitor and help manage facilities, maintain situational awareness, and to remotely track assets. Geographic Information Systems integrate with enterprise asset management systems, allowing facilities managers to visualize and schedule work orders and to monitor work activity, repairs, and predictive maintenance.

Manage Data With Real Time GIS

Airports maintain many staff, equipment and vehicles that move continually throughout their air and landsides. Whether it is during normal operation, in inclement weather, or when unplanned activity occurs, GIS technology improves real time situational awareness, safety, and operational efficiency. GIS enables supervisors and decision makers to track and manage mobile assets and field workers. As the information associated with these individuals, assets, and activities is collected and stored in secure, enterprise databases, the power to visualize and analyze them becomes available. These analyses include visualizing the movement of passenger baggage carts and other ground service vehicles, the locations of scissor lifts, power tools, wheelchairs, heavy equipment, accessories, and more.

Samsara Esri Airport Operations GIS Blog Embedded Image 2025

Airfield Inspectors are leveraging GIS to help them conduct daily Part 139 Inspections more quickly and efficiently. Using any Android or iOS mobile device, inspectors are capturing the locations, attributes, photographs, and other details of discrepancies in real time. The GIS field application they use for reporting leverages webhooks to generate work orders as soon as the issues are observed. This reduces maintenance response times and improves safety. Webhooks automatically push selected information about discrepancies to third EAMs, automatically initiating work orders. Webhooks are configured to immediately notify maintenance supervisors via SMS and emails of these issues, informing them of the need to take prompt action. With Indoor GIS technology, airports now have interactive, detailed interior floor plans of terminals where passenger activity can be tracked and analyzed. Understanding passenger movements and clustering throughout terminals and across time, helps facility, real estate, and lease managers make data driven decisions that ultimately boost revenue and improve customer satisfaction.

Safety and Security Through Readiness State

Safety and security are top priorities for airports. GIS is helping staff and tenants be safer and compliant with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety, security, and environment regulations. To comply with FAA regulations, airports use GIS to improve their situational awareness. Noise monitoring tools give employees and aircraft operators better awareness of the airport environment by generating and visualizing real-time and historic data on the noise associated with flight operations. CCTV footage of activity and incidents help personnel at Airport Integrated Operations Centers (AIOCs) see, manage, and mitigate risks by understanding and learning from accidents so they can promote and encourage safer workplace behavior. Airlines also maintain AIOCs where GIS technology provides decision makers with Operations Dashboards giving them live 365/24/7 monitoring. Because location is the core of situational awareness, GIS is an essential component in maintaining safe, compliant operations. GIS technology is being used to see events and activity, and sends automated alerts of normal, unplanned, or suspicious activity, as well as inclement weather to stakeholders. By making real-time, location-based data more secure, accessible, and efficient, airports and air carriers go beyond safety and security, offering optimal customer service.

GIS and Oversight Granting Operational Efficiency

To improve customer satisfaction, airports aim to reduce latency, wait times and delays, such as the time between when a passenger deplanes and when they receive their belongings at baggage claim carousels. By using GIS network analysis, airports are leveraging sensors attached to baggage handling vehicles to track their progress. This data can help airports make better data-driven decisions about route efficiency. Keeping track of mobile assets, vehicles, and personnel reduces turn times including taxi delays, gate availability and reassignments, deboarding, cleaning and passenger boarding; thereby, improving on time performance. In the longer term, these processes positively impact efficiency and help smart airports and tenants increase productivity and reduce costs.

GIS empowers users with Web Apps that offer secure, real time and historic oversight of their assets. Through geofences, virtual boundaries that correspond to real-world geographic areas, airports can track and monitor the movement of mobile assets in and around terminals and facilities. With these apps, planners and decision makers can see when and where equipment, tools, and personnel are active or idle. This oversight can help track fuel usage, schedule the parking of planes and more; allowing airports to optimize fuel usage, cutting down on cost and emissions. GIS can help streamline and automate routine tasks, such as vehicle and equipment inspections and maintenance reporting.

Enhance Efficiency with Samsara and Esri’s ArcGIS Velocity

Optimize airport operations using real time data, GIS mapping and geofencing using the Samsara Connected Operations Cloud and Esri’s ArcGIS Velocity. With Samsara and Velocity, airports can use GIS technology to map infield areas and create geofenced zones, tracking and measuring infield equipment to improve the readiness state, safety and security of airports.

Watch our on-demand webinar to learn more about leveraging Esri’s ArcGIS Velocity, along with the Samsara Connected Operations Cloud to analyze real-time data feeds to improve airport operations.