Apps that track school buses aim to calm anxious parents

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http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/tracking-apps-set-ease-worry-over-students-school-buses?singlepage=true

Anxious parents craning their necks to look out for delayed school buses can expect some relief when the nation’s first suite of school bus tracking apps, which would allow them to track their child’s ride in real time, is rolled out to 15 schools in the coming months.

The schools comprise a mix of pre-schools and international schools here.

The MyBusMate suite of three apps, which was launched yesterday, was first tested out by four schools, including an international boarding school in Johor Baru, Malaysia, over a period of time.

The apps will provide much-needed communication between parents, schools and bus companies, ensuring that everyone is kept in the loop with any problems or when the schedule changes, she said.

The suite of three apps — the main MyBusMate app for parents, an on-board app for bus attendants and the Geo Tracker app — is available for download at the Apple Store and Google Play. Schools and buses will also have dashboards that track individual buses or the entire fleet, for instance. All three apps are free to download.

Geo Tracker allows parents and schools to track the whereabouts of school buses. Parents receive automatic proximity notifications of the bus’ arrival, allowing them to time their send-offs and pick-ups, cutting waiting times significantly.

The apps also come with additional features such as an instant messaging platform that allows schools, buses and bus companies to communicate with each other directly. With it, parents would, for instance, be able to inform the school and bus operator that their child was ill and unable to attend school that day, said Mr Boneham. Other features, such as a shared calendar, help remind parents of school events.

Mr Boneham said the team made conscious decisions in its choice of technology, design and implementation to keep costs low. Depending on whether the schools require the team to provide hardware, such as tablets, the developer is charging a monthly fee of between S$5 to S$8 per student for this service.

MyBusMate plans to offer the service to about 30 to 40 schools by the end of the year and aims to reach more local schools as well, Mr Boneham said.