New app enables Osceola County parents to track school buses

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The School District of Osceola County, Florida, seeks to cut down amount of time students spend waiting at bus stops.

Parents now have access to a new bus tracking app that tracks the district's 340 bus routes that 27,000 students ride daily.

The district said the app is part of its efforts to be more transparent with parents about bus arrival times after longer than normal wait times at bus stops because of a bus driver shortage.

"We're still dealing with some late buses that are 15, 20 to 30 minutes late," school district spokesman David King said. "We've had those kinds of issues going on."

Less than 5 percent of parents and students have downloaded the app.

"We'd like to see half of our students and parents sign up, which would be about 12,000 people," King said.

The GPS tracker atop buses can also relay when a bus' door opens.

The district said it hopes to have technology by next school year that can scan student IDs to track when students board and disembark buses.

Cox Media Group