Ways a School Bus Tracking Software can assist during an emergency

When you see or hear the word ”School Bus” on the television or radio, your heart skips a beat. News on incidents involving a school bus raises eyebrows from global media houses. However, people, especially parents, pray the report is false. School bus emergencies tend to reflect the educational institutions training and response policy towards Adhoc incidents.

If you are a member of an educational institute, owner of the bus fleet, or just a parent, this write-up will educate you on the best ways to track school/College/Educational vehicles and respond accurately during emergencies. 

Timely alerts

The school bus tracking app operate and track vehicles in real-time. With smart algorithms, the relevant authorities get notified when the vehicle abruptly stops, exceeding the speed limit, deviates from the route, or any other situation. Thus, eliminating risks and reduces response time. 

Set-up bus routes

With the smart School bus tracking app, institution authorities set up dedicated routes for vehicles to ply. The GPS tracks the vehicles from the moment of ignition and notifies the management when the bus goes off from the transit schedule. 

Seamless communication

The school bus tracking software, coupled with the GPS device, can be programmed to share timely alerts with the concerned parties. The digital platform transmits data over the channels. Thus, making them more reliable than radio sets. During inadvertent events, drivers can contact school management directly. 

Faster routing

When the vehicle cannot continue on the programmed location due to reasons such as heightened traffic, public diversion, weather, or any other pre-defined purpose, the application showcases an alternative route defined in its algorithm. Furthermore, with the installed device, the location of the vehicle can be tracked with ease. 

Connecting school authorities & parents

School management can save on time and money by offering parents a platform to track the vehicles and their kids. The user-friendly app allows parents exclusive access to the vehicle’s location in real-time. Thus, helping you cut down on distracting calls. 

Is the school bus tracking software customizable?

Indeed they are. However, ensure you acquire the platform from a reputable organization. Turnkey Town has been under the spotlight for delivering some fantastic solutions for educational institutions across the globe. Their advanced school bus tracking app has garnered remarkable reviews from educational authorities, drivers, and parents. Their solutions tailored for:

• School districts
• Fleets owned by schools
• School transport providers and others

Furthermore, they build and deliver cutting-edge apps for:

• School admin
• Drivers
• Parents
• Fleet manager

What features power the school bus tracking app?

With extensive analysis, the experts at Turnkey Town integrate the platform with the following tailored features:

Parents app	Real-time tracking Communication Entry & exit alerts Proximity alert  Offline access and more
School admin app	Route & stage management Notifications Ignition alert Speed alert Geo-fencing alert and more
Driver app	Navigation Live cam Monitor speed Mark attendance Active communication and more
Fleet manager app	Bus tracking School bus maintenance Planning trips Comprehensive communication Notifications and more

Summing-up

With technology at its peak, education institutions can promote safety by linking their fleet with a smart application & devices. Turnkey Town can help you deploy both the school bus tracking app and GPS units with your existing infrastructure seamlessly.

What features should I include in my school bus tracking software?

Wish to launch a school bus tracking software and worried about the features you wish to include in the application? Turnkey Town, one of the leading companies in app development offers an easily customizable school bus tracking software with advanced features designed by experts in the field, 

Parents app - Features

• Proximity alert

Parents will receive alerts via SMS when the bus is within pick up/drop off point vicinity. Parents can customize the vicinity alert. 

• Communication

Parents can directly communicate with the school bus driver or school management directly through the application. 

• Live tracking

Parents can track the school bus and children onboard in real-time using mobile and web applications.  

School admin app 

• Route and stage management

School Admin/transport manager creates the best routes and stages for individual buses. 

• Ignition alert

When the driver turns on/off the bus, the admin receives alerts via SMS or push notifications. 

• Reports

The school management can create and maintain a detailed record on operation cost, history of distance traveled, productivity and so on. 

Driver app 

• Monitor speed

Drivers will be under constant monitoring. School Admin/Parents can track the location in real-time. 

• Attendance

Drivers can mark the daily attendance of students with the in-built feature in the application. 

• Notifications

Drivers receive regular updates about the pick up/drop location, students on leave and much more. 

Fleet manager app

• School bus maintenance

The app keeps track of the maintenance fleet for the app and receives notifications when the bus is due for maintenance. 

• Planning trips

By organizing ad hoc school tours or updating regular trips, you can easily manage the fleet. 

• End to end communication

  The app allows drivers to communicate seamlessly on delays, breakdowns and more with ease. 

Get in touch with Turnkey Town to launch an advanced app for your business.

Why a School Bus Tracking Software is the Need of the Hour?

Working parents struggle to find a balance between professional and personal life. They find it difficult to drop the kids at school and consider school buses as safe modes of transport but they are still worried about safety issues. They fear whether their kids have reached school safely or not and they are really worried when the school bus comes late.

A traditional school bus can’t provide details like students’ safe arrival at school or other details like reason for the delay and so on. Every sector is revolutionized with the advancements in technology. School bus transportation is not an exception. With a GPS tracking system on school buses, it’s easy to track the location of children in real-time. It acts as a one-stop solution for all the queries about the safety of students.

School bus tracking solution is now available on both web and mobile app. Parents can now know about their children’s status in real-time. It enhances the standard of school bus transportation. Just like every other on-demand mobile application, it is easy to install.

Let’s have a detailed look at the components of the application. A school bus tracking software uses location-based technology to intimate the users about the arrival of students’ status and so on. It’s a collection of four different applications such as,

• Parent app
• School admin app
• Driver app
• Fleet manager app

Some of the features you can include in your school bus tracking software are as follows,

Parent App - Features

Live tracking

It helps the parents track the real-time location of children in real-time using mobile & web applications throughout the scheduled route.

Communication

Parents can contact the school management or the school bus driver directly via the application if they have any queries or clarifications.

Pick up and drop off alerts

The instant pick-up/drop-off alerts will be sent to the parents when their children board & de-board the school bus.

Offline access

The app is designed in such a way that the parents can access the app during the absence of the internet. The information will be fed into the app once they turn on the internet.

School admin app - Features

Notifications

Send relevant information and alerts to drivers and parents via push notifications and SMS.

Ignition alert

The school admin/transport manager will receive alerts via SMS or push notifications when the driver turns the bus on or off.

Offline access

The concerned information will be downloaded from the server into the application for users to access during offline mode. When online, the new information will be updated accordingly.

Driver App - Features

Monitor speed

The app monitors the speed limit of the driver and intimates the parent and school admin if the driver exceeds the speed limit.

Live cam

Through the Live-cam, school admins can view the inside and outside of the school bus. This feature boosts children's safety tenfold.

Mark attendance

Drivers can mark the students’ attendance when they board the school bus.

Fleet manager app - Features

Bus tracking

Fleet managers can track the location of the bus fleet and can identify the availability of buses at any given point of time.

Planning trips

It helps you manage your fleet by implementing ad-hoc school tours or updating regular trips by creating or modifying pick-up/drop off points hassle-free.

End-to-end communication

Instant Communication is possible by passing relevant information with parents, school admin, and drivers via SMS or third-party apps on delays, breakdowns, and more with ease.

Wish to launch a school bus tracking software? It’s a win-win situation for you and your customers. Turnkey Town, one of the leading companies in app development offers an easily customizable school bus tracking app at an affordable price. Visit their official website to know more.  

Boosting safety and security for children with a School Bus Tracking Software

Schools are judged by two aspects, education and children's safety. Although relevant educational authorities decide the former, however, the latter has been a topic of debate amongst parents, teachers, and educational authorities for decades.

Why is the subject of children's security-critical?

With news of child abduction on the rise, parents have become increasingly concerned about their kid's safety. Although schools have increased security within the campus, the transit between school and children's home/bus stops have remained independent from comprehensive monitoring.

What's the solution to the issue?

With a school bus tracking application for iOS, Android, and Web platforms, the issues mentioned above can be neutralized securely.

Wait, what is that?

A dedicated platform designed to monitor school bus movements from pickup point to school and back effectively. Drivers, parents, and school authorities are equipped with specialized applications/dashboards that showcases the school vehicles' live location in real-time.

I represent a school. How to get this unique app?

TurnkyTown is the leading School Bus Tracking Software Development company equipping educational institutes, school transport providers, parents, and drivers with the most advanced application. Integrated with smart features and tech, the app performs efficiently at all levels.

Let's check some of the remarkable features:

For parent app

• Live-tracking
• In-app communication
• Entry & exit alerts
• Offline access
• Proximity alerts and more

For school admin app

• Route and stage management
• Live tracking
• Ignition alert
• Notifications
• Geo-fencing alerts and more

For driver app

• Speed monitoring
• Navigation
• Active communication
• Mark attendance
• Live cam and more

Fleet manager app

• Bus tracking
• Alerts and notifications
• Planning trips
• Comprehensive communication
• Vehicle maintenance and more

Summing up

With safety requests at its peak, get started with the premier school bus tracking application designed and developed by experts from TurnkeyTown.

Reliable tips to boost school bus transportation safety and security

School buses are bound by law to meet all established federal regulations. Under the law, school buses are the safest means of transportation for children/students.

Each country has its own set of established safety principles and standards for maintaining the safety of school vehicles. For instance, in the United States, school buses are designed as per the standards set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to ensure comprehensive safety for occupants, including students, teachers/support staff, and drivers.

As per the global roads and transport authorities, school buses are regulated to comply with:

• Installing proper mirrors on either side of the vehicles for a 360-degree view.
• The maximum speed limit of 50 miles per hour on highways and 55 miles per hour on interstate highways.
• Secure electric door closing & opening mechanism (under driver control) coupled with auto-open/close option in case of emergencies.
• Speed control devices to ensure end-to-end compliance as per safety standards.
• Proper light indicators (yellow, red, and other lights) for alerting the neighboring vehicles.
• Non-slippery rubber mat covering the school vehicle floor for occupant’s safety.

Best practices to improve student safety while transiting on a school bus:

Parents:-

Parents are a critical piece of the safety puzzle. To improve students’ safety, parents are required to educate their children with essential rules of safety. Some safety tips that parents can give to their younglings include:

• Request children to reach the bus stop 5 to 10 minutes early for timely pickup.
• Use handrails while getting on or getting down from the bus.
• Fasten seat belts before the bus gets in motion
• Educate children with basic traffic rules and familiarize them with their concerned bus stops
• Request their kids to go to their seats directly after boarding the bus
• In case any object falls out of the bus, children should ask the driver to collect it and hand it over to them.
• Educate kids to discuss with their parents or school management in case of any violation committed by other students or drivers.
• Teach children to stand a few meters away from the road and board the bus after it comes to a complete halt.

Drivers:-

With rising incidents of mishaps, drivers are exacted to comply with the regulations by the book. Some crucial tips to ensure the safety of students, support staff, vehicles, and self include:

• Ensure the school bus is parked in a safe area.
• Make sure the school vehicle is equipped with numerous safety features but is not limited to only cross-view mirrors, fire extinguishers, and emergency exits.
• Pre-trip and post-trip inspection by the driver or school safety inspector to check vehicle operational capabilities.
• Integrated crash standards and rollover protection features.
• Before commencing the trip, educate the occupants about the safety tips such as seat belt reminder, exit signs, and others.

School:-

School management is expected to analyze the latest rules and suggestions given by the concerned transportation authorities and implement them thoroughly.

• Integrate advanced tech like AI (Artificial Intelligence) into their system to avoid thefts and ensure operational efficiency.
• Only hire authorized drivers and equip them with dedicated credentials to access (enter and exit) the school premises.
• Ensure the presence of the staff during school vehicle transit.
• Specialized training to drivers for handling buses/vehicles and on-board tech/specialized equipment.

How to enhance the student’s safety apart from the above tips?

Technology has a proven record of efficiently centralizing processes. Thus, meeting user or establishment expectations. Schools can install geo-fencing and combi-booster rear transmitter devices to provide secure building access for vehicles to enter and exit as per school timings.

Powered with the right software, schools can manage tedious tasks such as trip tracking, fare collection, ad-hoc/unplanned trips, tracking students, and much more seamlessly.

As a member of the school management, how can you get started with acquiring such a critical platform?

Since safety is the core expectation of parents, students, and country authorities, schools should only settle for the best. TurnkeyTown has been turning heads with its advanced school bus tracking app development solutions where school management, parents, and drivers are equipped with smart apps integrated with intelligent features.

The application (running on iOS, Android, and web platforms) can help school authorities and parents track their students and vehicles in real-time. Moreover, drivers can utilize the in-app navigation to ply on approved routes and pick up (and even drop off) students from the designated stops. The company also assists with acquiring the right hardware, including GPS devices, geofencing equipment, and others.

Summing-up

Schools and educational institutions are judged on the basis of quality education and student safety. TurnkeyTown helps you master the latter with a smart school bus tracking software designed as per the school/educational institution’s requirements.