New app will let Broward parents track their child's school bus
POMPANO BEACH – Cassandra Pierce spent Monday getting her son Kylin ready for the start of Broward public school that begins Tuesday, August 16.
Her son is going into third grade at Markham Elementary.
On Monday, the school distributed free backpacks and supplies courtesy of Office Depot and the Broward Education Foundation.
It's a big help to Pierce because she's a single mom who says she is headed to college herself.
While the backpack is a plus, she says she has lingering concern over the school bus situation.
"The wait time to get in touch with someone (at the transportation department) is long," she says.
But the district is hoping to head off transportation headaches this year with a new app.
It's called "Here Comes the Bus" and parents can sign up online.
The district is paying close to a half million dollars over five years to launch it.
It tracks a school bus and a parent can follow the route through the app to let them know where the bus is at any given moment.
Miami-Dade schools, which start Wednesday, don't have the app. Their buses have GPS. Miami-Dade schools police monitor transportation. Parents are urged to call the school is there's a bus issue.
In Broward, Here Comes the Bus launches September 15.
For more information go to HereComesTheBus.com.
