Study after study shows parents would like more visibility when it comes to their kids’ school bus commute. Although nearly 25,000,000 children travel on the school bus each day, a vast majority of those buses still haven’t implemented any kind of meaningful GPS tracking solution.
But why? If GPS school bus tracking technology exists, why haven’t all schools adopted it to make busing safer, easier, and more efficient?
Misconceptions Over Cost
The average school district is responsible for hundreds of buses. In fact, large states like New York manage as many as 45,000 school buses statewide! One of the biggest hurdles keeping administrators from considering implementation of school bus trackers is a misconception over the cost of the system itself.
Integrated GPS trackers like Viafy are designed to pay for themselves, and then some. School bus trackers help make commutes more transparent, yes, but they’re also optimized to save school districts thousands of dollars a year on maintenance, routing, and labor costs. In fact, when the right GPS tracking system is implemented, its initial cost can be offset within the first year.
Hesitancy Surrounding Parental Involvement
Many schools cite concerns over parental involvement as a primary reason to avoid school bus trackers. Understandably, administrators are worried that providing parents a tool to monitor school bus location could result in uninformed calls, questions, and meddling from so-called “helicopter parents.”
The logistics of managing parental contact are real, which is why some school bus trackers offer two options: one that includes a parent-facing app and one that doesn’t. Certain districts prefer to roll out their GPS tracking technology in-house first, concentrating on the benefits provided from an operational standpoint. In fact, certain schools choose never to open up school bus tracking software to parents at all, while others eventually feel confident enough to explore parental bus tracking software.
There Are Too Few Integrated Solutions
GPS-enabled school bus trackers are a dime a dozen. There are literally hundreds of providers of school bus tracking technology, route optimization software, and even fleet management platforms, but few satisfy the requirements of transportation managers holistically. That’s where Viafy comes in.
Viafy is a fully integrated school bus tracking system. It’s a one-stop technological solution for better fleet management, route planning and dissemination, and bus tracking technology. Through the Viafy platform schools can manage maintenance requirements of individual buses, track driver timesheets, allow parents GPS access, and even manage on-bus video and WiFi. It’s a comprehensive school bus technology solution that’s incredibly affordable.
Is it time your school considered school bus trackers?
When you’re ready to discuss the benefits of school bus tracking and dispel some of the most common myths about this new and exciting technology, reach out to Viafy. We’re excited to schedule your free demo today.