The Judson Independent School District’s new “Bus Compass” app gives parents the opportunity to monitor their children’s progress both to and from school.
The app, which went online last month, provides a map of the bus location when the bus in in a particular neighborhood within one mile of the stop. The mobile app sends alerts when the bus is two stops away, one stop away, and when the bus has arrived at the stop.
Kenneth Johnson, JISD transportation director, said the district started searching in 2018 for a way to provide parents with “real-time information” about how close their children were to arriving at their neighborhood bus stops.
“Parents have expressed the need to be able to track the buses regarding weather issues, traffic delays, and safety for their students at the bus stops,” Johnson said. “The purpose of this app is to strengthen the partnership with parents by providing a convenient way to get real-time information regarding the transportation experience.
“The app allows for peace of mind as well as providing parents and students the ability to view where their bus is in relation to their bus stop,” he added.
Nicole Taguinod, JISD interim communications director, said when a parent or guardian downloads and opens the app, they can either click on the map view or the overview. This serves to notify them when the bus route has started, when the bus is within approximately one mile of the stop, how many minutes until approximate arrival, when the bus leaves the stop, and when the bus arrives at school.
“The app is pretty accurate,” Taguinod said. “It does have some safety features embedded in the app to keep the children safe by only giving the parent approximate times of arrival and bus stop location.”
She said the district has been notified by the firm contracted for the service that there have been 92 parents or guardians who have successfully logged into the Bus Compass App in the last 30 days.
Johnson said another feature the district was looking for was the ability to add cameras in buses. Bids were posted in 2019, multiple companies applied, and the firm Transportant was awarded the contract. Price per bus came in at about $3,100.
The system went live in the summer of 2020, he added, but the district had not been running routes were due to COVID-19 safety restrictions.
“Transportant not only provides the Bus Compass feature, but it is also what we use for live video/audio, ridership, fleet tracking, pre- and post-trip check, route navigation, and incident notification,” Johnson said.
jflinn@express-news.net
"bus" - Google News
October 21, 2020 at 06:00AM
https://ift.tt/37qFG5m
Judson ISD unveils new school bus app - San Antonio Express-News
"bus" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2rp2JL3
https://ift.tt/3aT1Mvb
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Judson ISD unveils new school bus app - San Antonio Express-News"
Post a Comment