By: Kristyn Hunt Cathey, APR – Director of Communications
As the population continues to increase in the Baytown and Highlands areas, the district expects to see an increase in the student population, which currently sits at 24,000-plus students. Over half of the current student population are bus riders and the district expects that number to increase over the next 3-5 years. This means more cars and buses on our already over-crowded roads and highways.
The Transportation department, led by Rick Walterscheid, and his route supervisors, spend several months during the summer creating and revising the bus routes for the new school year and though they factor in potential traffic issues (such as an increase in car riders), their goal is to always pick up and return students as close to the posted route times as possible.
Applications such as Life360 are popular amongst parents that want to stay on top of their child’s location, including on the school bus. The department recognized the need for a system that provides parents with real-time notifications on their child’s location while they are on the district’s school buses. Enter StopFinder.
This application will allow parents and guardians to accurately track their child’s school bus in real time. The easy-to-use app is secure; only authorized users will have access to school bus information. Stopfinder, created by the district’s routing software company, Transfinder, is free to parents and guardians and allows users to customize when they receive alerts about their children’s bus location. The app is also powerful communication tool, providing parents with an easy way to stay informed and receive notifications instantly.
Because Stopfinder works seamlessly with the district’s routing system, Routefinder Plus, district transportation leaders can target communications to specific regions that may only be relevant for that area. For example, if a road is closed and a bus will be late, only parents/guardians of students affected by that road closure will be contacted.
Walterscheid and his team are excited to share this good news with district families. “This tool will help the Transportation office become even more efficient and responsive, because Stopfinder will answer that most important question parents have: ‘Where is my child’s school bus?’ he said. “The ability to conduct targeted communication will strengthen the ties we have with our community.”
In addition to real time GeoAlert notifications showing the location of the bus and the ability to better communicate, Stopfinder also provides school bus stop and schedule information, which is very important to parents. As the 2023 school year progresses, additional features will be introduced into the Stopfinder app. Features including “student ID ridership” and “ETA to bus stop information” will provide parents more information than ever before.
The district did a soft launch of the app this summer, to much success, with students enrolled in the additional school days program. The full roll out of the application will occur in fall 2023.
“Stopfinder was created with a lot of care by parents for parents,” said Transfinder President and CEO Antonio Civitella. “Just like with everything else having to do with student transportation, we had to get this right. The expectations parents have are understandably high. We believe Stopfinder will give parents and guardians the peace of mind they crave – knowing that their children are where they are supposed to be.”
To learn more about Stopfinder, visit Stopfinder.com.