A new school busing app for iPhones and Google/Droid devices is available for parents and students in the Stevens Point Area Public School District busing service.

The new software system installed this summer is up and running, and school transportation officials are identifying and modifying busing routes for this fall. Routes should be secured by Monday so parents can go online to the Stevens Point Area Public School District website for information.

Parents of students in the district’s busing service will receive emails about the new system and the new app that can be downloaded to know with more certainty when buses will arrive at bus stops. Families whose eldest is in 4-year-old kindergarten and those with children attending parochial schools will receive paperwork in the mail.

“This app and new software allows parents to have a peace of mind,” said Bradley Carriveau, school district transportation manager. “It provides them the security and safety of knowing when the bus will be showing (up) to the stop. It also allows parents to get the bus stop information faster via the district website, which provides the most current and up-to-date information.”

In November 2015, the district purchased the VersaTrans Transportation Software Suite for better efficiency in the transportation department. The previous software, Lynx, did not allow the department to adjust maps, including adding new roads, subdivisions and apartment complexes to modify routes.

The VersaTrans system also gives the district a better handling and tracking of routes and the cost of each bus. For example, at any given time in the day, transportation officials can locate where a bus is on a route, how fast that bus is traveling and see where that bus has stopped. Parents who believe their children missed the bus can call the transportation department, the system will show whether the bus stopped or drove past, and the bus can be routed back, Carriveau said.

On a day where a bus is running late or school opening is delayed, Carriveau can “push” an email through the system out to families indicating the change in time for those routes.

“It (will) allow us to move forward in communicating better and faster with schools, parents and the community,” he said.

The public school district transports about 6,000 students out of public and private schools in the area. By comparison, the public school district enrollment is about 7,500. Students within a two-mile radius of their school are not bused unless the area within that radius is deemed hazardous, Carriveau said.

With more than 250 routes, the first of which begins at 5:45 a.m. daily, having a system whereby changes and alterations to routes – which sometime happen daily, especially at the beginning of the year – helps, he said.

Adding a route or combining routes in ways that make more sense neighborhood-wise or in efficiency can be made quicker, and any changes that occur automatically transfer into the app, so parents are aware of what is happening in real time when they check.

Routes include students in 4-year-old kindergarten, elementary and secondary schools and private school routes. Routes are paired to create “packages” that the district can review and combine so buses can handle more than one route, Carriveau said.

The district buses within about 400 square miles with the earliest route leaving the bus garage at 5:45 a.m. to reach the most rural areas. The latest buses arrive back at the garage by 5:15 p.m., again from the most rural area, he said.

Students who have smartphones also can access the app so they can check their own routes while waiting.

Instructions for downloading and accessing the information is located at pointschools.net/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=29644& and includes pictures of how to download the app.