Beginning in the 2025/26 year, BVCS will be streamlining bus operations with a partnership with Canadian-based BusTrak. BusTrak is a recently-developed bus tracking app that will aid us in a number of important ways:
- automatic route-planning will save our bus manager significant time, and will enhance route efficiency
- parents will be able to see the real-time location of their bus as it is running, including automatic notifications if the bus is early, delayed or has a last-minute route change
- non-BVCS parents whose children use our bus will be able to receive notifications without downloading the MyBVCS app
- drivers will have digital rider lists, with routes automatically updating when families are not on board and a stop can be skipped
- admin will be able to gather aggregate data on operations, such as route length, ridership loads, and so on
- substitute drivers will have turn-by-turn directions
The BusTrak team is continuing to add features. We have not subscribed to all of the available features…after a one-year pilot of this app we will be better able to assess future service level. While BVCS operations have run smoothly in the absence of BusTrak, the level of up-to-the-route information required by regulation and expected by parents makes this app a significant improvement over existing systems.
We will provide parents with more information in August. This will include instructions on where to find the app and how to use it.