New app will allow FCPS parents to track buses in real time

Fairfax County Public Schools is offering new app for the 2019-2020 school year to help parents track when their child’s bus is going to arrive.

After a trial run last year, Here Comes the Bus will now allow all FCPS parents and guardians to track their child’s — or children’s — bus in real time. The app can be used on mobile or desktop devices, and features include a customizable map and the option to get text or email alerts when the bus is a certain distance from their child’s stop.

FCPS will continue to use its existing bus system notification tool (https://busdelay.fcps.edu/) in addition to the app.

Here Comes the Bus will be available online through the Student Information System (SIS) Parent Account as of August 26. Parents or guardians will need to know the FCPS district code (28982) and then need to validate their account. Parents will be able to put multiple children on the same account.

Here Comes the Bus is owned by Synovia Solutions, a company that began using GPS to track buses for school systems in 2001. The software is now used nationwide, with close to 1.5 million total users, according to the company’s website. It’s used in cities like Charlotte, Orlando and San Antonio, and nearby Prince William County Public Schools also uses the app.

FCPS emphasized that the app will track the bus, not the student. They also noted that bus substitutions may impact the app’s accuracy. Here Comes the Bus will not be used for athletics buses or any other FCPS-provided transportation, the school system said.

More information about the app can be found on FCPS’s website.