Students riding to school on a school bus is nothing new, but what has changed is the private transport facilitators who are driving them to schools. And it is observed that parents have concerns about placing their children, especially younger ones, in vehicles with drivers whom they do not know.

Drivers of these private school transport vehicles must have a valid driving license, background checks, bus driver equivalent medical exams, updated records of defensive driving training and guaranteed use of child restraints. Sometimes these private transport facilitators fail to appoint drivers with all these essential documents and parents too are unsure about their child’s safety during school transit.

For this reason, more and more schools are incorporating robust school bus tracking software solutions that could provide an exclusive app for parents to track school buses in real-time with the help of GPS. These tracking applications are of great help for both schools as well as parents.

Since the school bus operational management involves a multifaceted system of procedures that require immediate and effective communications between drivers,  school officials and parents, these software solutions come as an all-in-one solution to optimize the entire process with ease.

During the school bus commute, in case the communications break down—whether the bus arrives late, a student isn’t at a stop, or a student didn’t get off the bus—problems arising from broken communications can quickly turn a routine function into a crisis. In such cases, the advanced tracking application suites can help in improving communication by introducing an integrated system that provides instant notifications, real-time GPS tracking, and paperless administrative solutions.

Common features of school bus tracking software solutions:

Notification Messages: These school bus tracking apps provide peace of mind for schools and school transport facilitators by generating instant group or individual notification messages to worried parents, who could monitor the school bus through the app. The push notification messages can include the date, time, and location stamps and immediately notify dispatch if a student is not at a bus stop. The GPS functionality helps to track and locate every bus so that parents can be notified if there are bus delays.

Managing workflow: The GPS functionality of these tracking software solutions lets fleet managers review routes to improve efficiency and productivity, as well as quickly respond to changing conditions like road closures, traffic congestion, or weather situations.

Ensuring driver compliance and accountability: With the hands-free operation, school transport facilitating managers can increase driver safety, eliminate distracted driving and costly fines, and avoid the bad press that might come along with violating the law.

Ensures students’ safety and punctuality: By efficiently streamlining the communications between the transport facilitating team and parents, buses are on time, delays are properly communicated, and fleet managers enable a rider experience that is safer for students and provides greater peace of mind for parents.