Parents of bus riders in a local school district will soon be able to track their children with an app on their phones.
Program Components
Route Finder: Bus route can be set and monitored for efficiency in fuel and time. Info Finder: Where students can catch the bus and at what time. Bus Finder: App will show parents where their child is and track how far they are from the bus stop."We will know where every child is that's on our buses," transportation coordinator Larry Anderson said. "We will know when we pick them up, when we let them off, where they got off-just keep everybody safe so we know who's where."
Students will be issued a key card, which they will scan when getting on the bus. That puts them into the system, which will also track the bus route via GPS.
The district purchased the system in September at a cost of $28,656.31 for the first year, and $20,549.63 yearly for the next three years. It works in coordination with the Transfinder system, which was put in place last year.
Genia Bullock, the district's public relations coordinator, said there are three components to the system: Route Finder, Info Finder and Bus Finder.
"Route Finder allows us to set the route and monitor the route for efficiency in fuel and time," she said. "The Info Finder piece allows parents and secretaries to go in from the website to see where students could catch the bus and will give them information to figure out what time the bus will be there for the stop for the child."
Bus Finder ties directly to the Zonar system, and this is the portion parents will see on the app. They will be able to see where their student is and track how far they are from the bus stop. Those using the app will only get information for their student.
"One of the things that will be really neat for this is that parents of students coming in from events like the all-region band competition won't be waiting on a phone call at 1 a.m.," Bullock said. "A parent can see where the bus is and not have to wait for students to call."
Now that the devices are installed in the buses, the next step is for staff to be trained and for the students to be issued the cards, called a Z Pass. Bullock said there is no plan in place so far for what would happen if students lose the cards.
"We are reaching out to other districts across the nation, possibly visit and see it in action as we develop policies and criteria for bus passes," she said.
No firm date has been set for the system to begin in the district, but Anderson said it would be as soon as possible and may be as early as January.
"This is going give us more information to make better decisions," he said. "We do everything we can to make sure our students are as safe as possible on our buses."