The free school bus mobile app, “Here Comes the Bus,” has topped 1 million users, it was announced by Synovia Solutions during the National Association for Pupil Transportation conference in Kansas City on Oct. 29.
The surge of downloads to kick off the school year has rocketed “Here Comes the Bus” to more than a million downloads, Synovia Solutions announced. It has resulted in a top 50 position among education-related apps on the iTunes® app store.
The free app improves the way parents, students and education officials interact with the daily bus commute. The app has earned 4.6 stars on the app store with more than 23,000 reviews, the company reported.
Launched in 2014 by Indianapolis-based Synovia Solutions, LLC., the app provides real-time tracking info, as well as e-mails and push notifications, to connect parents and students with information about their bus.
The app is a powerful yet simple way to de-stress hectic mornings, as bus riders no longer worry about the exact arrival time of their bus.
Synovia officials said that school districts and transporters pay no up-front costs to integrate the product’s smart fleet technology since customers pay a monthly subscription service fee per bus.
While “Here Comes the Bus” delivers a rewarding experience to parents, administrators rely on additional features like driver time and attendance, plus vehicle tracking that sends alerts about excessive idling or unsafe driving. The student ridership feature allows students to check-in and off the bus each day, which triggers a real-time push notification to the app, and connects parents, students and school officials.
The app enhances the connection with the school bus and “saves money by providing real-time intelligence about fleet performance and individual bus activity,” said Jon King, CEO of Synovia Solutions. “This knowledge enables smarter decision-making and a stronger return on investment for transportation assets. We will continue listening to customers and invest in innovation projects, to be well-positioned to continue to receive positive customer feedback and reviews in the future.”
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| SCHOOL BUS FACTS | |
| Number of school buses in the U.S.: | 480,000 |
| Average miles traveled per year per bus: | 12,000 |
| Total mileage for all buses in the U.S.: | 5.7 billion |
| Average number of students per bus: | 54 |
| Number of cars needed to transport each busload: | 36 |
| Source: American School Bus Council |
