SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) — New for Holyoke Public School families this year: a school bus tracking app for parents, students, bus drivers and school administrators.
We’ve been told the Holyoke School Board is testing the app for its summer programs and plans to make it available to parents next school year.
Western Mass News spoke with Ted Thien, vice president and general manager of transportation at Tyler Technologies, about how the new My Ride K-12 app works and what parents and students can expect from Holyoke.
“My Ride K-12 creates an Uber-like experience for parents,” Thien said.
Using the app, parents can see:
· Where students are picked up and dropped off
· When does the bus arrive and depart
· Who will be the driver
· The bus information
Thien explained that school districts can add a feature that displays bus routes in real time.
“Some districts will enable the feature where they can actually see the route of the bus, so just like your Uber,” he told us.
Bus drivers also have a tablet with which they can navigate the bus routes.
“The tablet and software developed by Tyler are specifically designed to provide this information to the driver in a safe way.”
Thein told us that Tyler Technologies has about 40 customers in Western Massachusetts using their technology.
Dean Santiago, Holyoke’s transportation manager, pointed out an additional feature that will also be available.
“They can now communicate directly with us through the app and we can respond to them,” he explained.
Santiago said the live feature will also help parents of special needs students as they will also be able to see any bus delays or route changes.
“If parents cannot stand outside at the bus stop for a longer period of time, this gives them more flexibility to still get their child to the bus on time,” he explains.
The app is easy for parents to use: just download it and enter your student’s school ID number to activate your account.
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