IRVINE, Calif. — CalAmp, a technology solutions pioneer, has announced that parents in two more states have begun using its school bus tracking app, Here Comes The Bus, which is already in use by more than a million people across North America.
Synovia Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CalAmp, has an average of 350,000 daily users. The company recently received an Innovation Award from IHS Markit at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Starting the new school year with the app are: Florence Unified School District (FUSD) in Florence, Arizona, and Boyertown Area School District (BASD) in Boyertown, Pennsylvania.
Hundreds of school districts from California to New York have already made the Here Comes The Bus app available. In addition, these school districts and school bus contractors are also scheduled to launch around the start of the new school year:
- Douglas County, Georgia
- Elk Grove, California
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
- New York City
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Redmond, Oregon
- San Marcos, California
- Valdosta, Georgia
The Here Comes The Bus solution provides a secure and convenient school bus experience by delivering real-time tracking of bus location via email and push notification alerts. The app helps ensure that both students and parents arrive at the school bus stop on time, the company noted.
The school districts are also partnering with Synovia to integrate a suite of digital tools on the districts’ buses that are designed to improve safety, increase fleet efficiency and save money. CalAmp, Synovia’s parent company, is an active member of Together For Safer Roads, a coalition that is addressing the challenges of fleet safety.
Shannon Weber, director of transportation at Florence Unified School District, said that “The Here Comes The Bus app is another way we strive to keep parents informed and their children safe. Our students will know exactly when to arrive at the bus stop and their parents will know when they are stepping off the bus in the afternoon. The new technology reinforces our commitment to making our buses the safest way to transport students to and from school.”
Families from Boyertown and Florence can expect the Here Comes The Bus mobile app to be available for download on Android- and iOS-supported devices throughout the first half of the school year, officials said. The app will help student riders and drivers enjoy a more secure and convenient bus experience.
“We’ve got a strong focus on efficiency, effectiveness, and safety, and the Here Comes The Bus mobile app fits neatly in all three of those categories. The students spoke and we listened,” said Dana Bedden, superintendent of schools in Boyertown. “We’re excited to help students experience a safer bus ride and for parents to enjoy the convenience and efficiency the app provides.”
Florence and Boyertown are among the latest school districts nationwide to adopt the Here Comes The Bus app. The app is powered by cloud-based software that provides school transportation managers with the fleet information that is needed to run safer and more efficient operations.
“The start of a new school year is always an exciting time but can also be stressful as parents and students adapt to a fresh bus schedule and morning routine,” said Jon King of Synovia Solutions. “Florence and Boyertown are helping their communities better manage the school bus experience and we’re excited to serve them.”
The free mobile app, with more than one million downloads since its launch in 2015, has earned 4.6 stars from the Apple App store and a place in the top 50 education-related apps.
“We recently celebrated passing 50,000 reviews on the Apple App store and are committed to the highest levels of customer service that helped us achieve such stellar ratings,” King said. “We’re rolling out a new customer service portal this summer, to ensure parents, educators and administrators can rely on Synovia for fast, responsive and reliable customer service to keep daily alerts tied to on-time bus stop arrivals.”
Please visit the Apple App store or Google Play to download the app. Synovia urges parents to contact the company with any customer service issues via the customer support website. To learn more about Here Comes The Bus, watch this video and hear from parents on why they love this app.
About Synovia Solutions, LLC.
Founded in 2012, Synovia Solutions, LLC. provides GPS-driven smart fleet technology applications to increase savings, enhance safety and improve service. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of CalAmp, Synovia delivers a powerful cloud-based solution via a software as a service (SaaS) platform. With a nationwide customer base in K-12 transportation and municipal fleet management services, Synovia provides digital services that deliver essential, real-time data for smarter fleet management.
About CalAmp
CalAmp (NASDAQ: CAMP) is a technology solutions pioneer that is transforming the globally connected economy. CalAmp helps reinvent business and improve lives worldwide with technology solutions that streamline complex mobile IoT deployments and bring intelligence to the edge. CalAmp software and subscription-based services, scalable cloud platform and intelligent devices, collect and assess business-critical data from mobile assets and their contents. These are called The New How, which facilitates efficient decision making, optimize mobile asset use and improve road safety.
CalAmp, headquartered in Irvine, California, has been publicly traded since 1983. LoJack is a brand of CalAmp and a leader in stolen vehicle recovery and innovative automotive services. For more information, visit www.calamp.com, or LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or CalAmp Blog.
