b'SPECIAL REPORTincluding those who live in remote areas thattransportation for special needs and homeless prove to be too expensive to send buses to.students who attend 350 school districts across ALCs dispatch, routing and driver support18 states.teams are on-station during all hours of studentElsewhere, Here Comes the Bus is a school transportation, so they can assist school ad- bus tracking app from Synovia Solutions, ministrators, parents and drivers. which was acquired earlier this year by a public ALC offers accurate and specific customcompany, CalAmp, a tech solutions company.pickup and drop-off locations that are updatedThe tracking app is improving morning to allow for changes in traffic flow, con- routines for parents and students, by giving struction or individual needs. MRM providesthem real-time bus location and alerts to get visibility for districts to view the same re- them to the bus stop on time. This means no al-time status, driver and vehicle locations thatmore standing at a bus stop when it is cold are available to ALCs internal dispatch team,and raining or snowing, or in the pre-dawn said Prettyman. hours, wondering when the bus will arrive. The ALC My Ride Manager gives districts aIt also means children have fewer excuses to holistic view of their transportation. It providesmiss the bus.districts with the same tools that the dispatchA family can download the app, create a center uses to see everything in one place. Thissecure account, add the name of the studentSTN Reader includes current trips, completed trips andand everything is set. This shows the real timeSurvey Saysupcoming scheduled trips. It features a com- location of the childs bus on a map, then gives prehensive view of all students and the retrievalscheduled and actual arrival times at home for of information on a single trip or single student.morning, mid-day and afternoon routes. 41%There are also integrated maps that allowIt provides push and email alerts when the one to view the location of vehicles, as driversbus is near or when the bus has been substi- use an app to pick up students and make their way to eachtuted. Alerts are available in English, Spanishshow parents destination.and French, according to Here Comes the Bus Annie Ellenberger, director of technology atinformation. location/arrival ALC Schools, said users receive updated esti- Also, Here Comes the Bus has achievedtime of buses mated times of arrival, based on location andsome recognition outside of the student& student traffic. There are details on the days drivers,transportation industry. It was awarded the vehicle, model, color and license plate. IHS Market Innovation Award at the Con- trackingDurham School Services, which is based insumer Electronic Show this past January. The Illinois, began using the companys propri- app was considered an example of innovativeOut of 176 etary Bus Tracker app five years ago, so parentstechnology. responseswill always know where their childs bus is.This app provides real time school bus Dan Sutherland, general manager of Durhamtracking, and it helps parents understand School Services in Algonquin, Illinois, saidwhere the school bus is, so they can make a overall feedback on the app has been positive. better decision on when to send the kids out One of the biggest challenges we have facedto meet the school bus, said Bryan Mitchell, is all the phone calls we get from parents whenspokesperson for Here Comes the Bus. It their childs bus does not arrive, he explained.works, because we put GPS trackers inside The Bus Tracker app is a way to cut down onevery school bus in the districts we serve. This traffic in the dispatch office. It gives parents theinformation is given to the parents, so every ability to see where their bus is. They can see theparent can know where the school bus is.bus is only one minute away, and they dont tieHere Comes the Bus serves about 300 up lines in the dispatch office. This allows us todistricts, and more prospective clients are in keep lines open for more important calls. Parentsthe pipeline. Synovia also recently debuted a benefit, because they know where their child is. less costly app version for small districts. We App technology is especially helpful forare working on more innovative products. We school bus service that is provided to studentswant to provide a more safe and convenient who have special needs. ALC Schools is basedbus experience for parents and students, con-in San Clemente, California, but providescluded Mitchell.28School Transportation NewsSEPTEMBER 2019'