Arlington families are getting a new way to track their kids鈥� school bus trips, as the Northern Virginia school district announced plans to work with the bus routing app Transfinder.
The company鈥檚 parent app, called Stopfinder, uses GPS technology to track the buses. Parents receive an invitation from the school district and then download the app. Anyone who downloads the app and tries to use it without an invitation won鈥檛 be able to.
During a committee meeting in November, Arlington school officials discussed ways to improve the bus routing system. The software they previously used had been in place for over a decade, according to school board documents.
The change comes after the previous software delayed sending routing information to families and schools, and operated an inefficient routing process.
Nearby Loudoun County Public Schools and Baltimore and Anne Arundel County schools in Maryland are among the D.C.-area districts that use Transfinder, President and CEO Antonio Civitella told 海角社区app.
鈥淲e would like to extend our appreciation to our Superintendent, members of our School Board, Cabinet, and our Assistant Superintendent of Facilities and Operations for supporting this partnership,鈥� Lance Johnson, Arlington Public Schools鈥� executive director of transportation and fleet services, said in a statement. 鈥淲e are excited about the opportunities it brings and look forward to enhancing our level of service.鈥�
The Stopfinder app, which is free for parents, allows families to sign up for various alerts, including a notification for when the bus is 10 or 15 minutes away from the pickup spot.
Last year, over 200 million alerts were sent to parents. More than 2,500 school systems across North America use the tech, Civitella said.
If a school bus is taking attendance, parents can sign up for notifications when a student gets on or off the bus.
鈥淧arent apps have a tendency of having high friction,鈥� Civitella said. 鈥淔riction means you have to register, you have to know kids鈥� IDs and so forth, and so there鈥檚 a low adoption rate. What we did, we want to make it frictionless.鈥�
Separately, through a process called trip absorption, the company鈥檚 tech can be used to help find quick solutions when certain drivers aren鈥檛 working on any given day, he said.
鈥淭wo, three drivers are out today. Well, how do I consolidate just for today?鈥� Civitella said. 鈥淗ow do you let our routing algorithm say, 鈥楬ey, I don鈥檛 want this to happen all the time. Today, let鈥檚 consolidate some routes.鈥欌��
The company鈥檚 Routefinder Plus technology, meanwhile, helps school divisions create the safest bus routes for students. It considers ways to minimize having kids cross the street to get on or off the bus using artificial intelligence optimization.
鈥淲e also consider the approach,鈥� Civitella said. 鈥淎pproaching a stop at the kid鈥檚 house, maybe it鈥檚 faster to come from the north. But if the kid鈥檚 on that side, it鈥檚 important to create a stop that the kid doesn鈥檛 have to cross the street. Those are really our superpower when it comes to optimization.鈥�
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