Why parents call the school office
Most calls to a school's front office in the morning and afternoon are the same few questions. Did she get on the bus? Is the bus late? When will it reach our stop? Each call takes time from staff, and each unanswered one worries a parent.
Good school bus tracking answers those questions before anyone has to ask.
Bus location is not the same as who is on board
A GPS unit on the bus shows where the bus is. It does not show whether a particular child boarded, got off at the right stop or stayed behind at school. That needs a check for each learner at the bus door.
With Terra GO, the minder taps each child's Band or Bag Tag with the staff phone as they climb on and off. The school sees which bus each learner is on, and the parent gets an update straight away.
What a school should be able to see
- Every bus, in view: where each bus is, and who is on board.
- The live journey and its ETA.
- A record of every handover: bus door, gate, lunch, clubs and trips, not only the bus.
- Checked pickups: who collected each child, and when.
What parents should get
- An update at each handover on WhatsApp or SMS, with nothing to download.
- The live bus while their child rides.
- A heads-up before their stop. With Terra GO, parents choose 2, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes before. 10 is the default.
- A one-time pickup code when someone else is collecting.
Questions to ask any provider
- Do parents need to download an app, or does it work on WhatsApp and SMS?
- How is each learner checked on and off, and how long does it take staff?
- Does it cover the gate, lunch, clubs and trips, or only the bus?
- Who can see a child's information, and how does the provider comply with the Kenya Data Protection Act, 2019? Are they registered with the ODPC?
- Who does the set-up work: adding learners, routes and staff?
- How is it priced, and can the school pay termly?
How Terra GO does it
One tap does three things. The driver, minder or teacher taps the Band. The school sees it live: which bus, and who is on it. The parents get a WhatsApp or SMS update.
Terra GO is registered with Kenya's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. Pricing is one platform fee per school, plus a small fee per learner, paid termly or yearly. For set-up, we add your learners, routes and staff. Terra GO for schools.