to a given route, “somebody had to take that information out of one system and upload it so that the system knew which bus each parent was tracking,” Rosengard added. “Those connection points no longer exist, since it’s all in the same system. As soon as dispatch assigns a ride to a driver and that driver logs in, all the stakeholders are seeing the same information in real time.”
There’s An App for That The Here Comes the Bus app is one example of the
way an interaction between vendors, districts and par- ents can fine tune technology and facilitate widespread adoption. Jeff Lanier, Synovia senior director of sales, said there are now 1.7 million families across hundreds of districts using the service, which provides real-time bus location and updates. “Districts can also keep families apprised with custom messaging to manage weather updates, field trips and sporting event transportation,” said Lanier. “We zeroed in on specific opportunities to refine the user experience and beef up student safety, data security and integration capabilities. Once internal testing was complete, we partnered with early adopter districts and parents for a thorough validation.” Huntington County Community Schools in Indiana
has been using Here Comes the Bus since 2016, three years before parent company CalAmp acquired app de- veloper Synovia Solutions. “Many families have come to rely on the app so much
that they no longer watch the clock or memorize their child’s bus schedule, they simply wait for the notification that the bus is approaching,” said Director of Transporta- tion Vanessa Fields. She said the district is eager to start using the program’s
“skip a ride” feature so that parents can let the district know when students won’t be on the bus that day. Hillsborough County in Florida also adopted Here
Comes the Bus several years ago, as part of larger efforts around modernization and transparency. “Knowing when the bus is expected to arrive helps
families better plan their mornings and afternoons while reducing uncertainty,” said Hill. “For our drivers, the app has helped minimize situations where buses arrive at stops before students are present.” Douglas County School System in Georgia started using Here Comes the Bus in 2021 to deal with the flood of parent queries linked to the bus driver shortage and delays, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The information parents had been calling for “was right there in their hands,” thanks to bus tracking on the app, said
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www.stnonline.com 57
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