Look Ma, No Hardware! Phone/Tablet-Based Rider Tracking

26 March, 2021 |

We have been doing rider tracking for the last year using RFID cards. On the plus side, the system is as simple as it gets:

  • Parents are sent an RFID tag, easily replaced if lost
  • Parents register the tag to their child
  • The child swipes on and off the bus
  • The responsible parent is notified when the child swipes on or off
  • Detailed real-time data, analytics and history including contact tracing are made available to the school

On the other hand, we are talking about schoolchildren! If they forget / lose their tags, or attach the tag to their backpack and take the wrong one, the system runs the risk of “not knowing” where this child is and causing undue concern to parents.

Additionally, while BusWhere Rider Tracking can be added one bus at a time, it does require hardware installation to try.

Enter “Tagless Rider Tracking”. This can be used to try BusWhere rider tracking with no hardware or RFID tags required, and to supplement the hardware solution if kids forget their tag. Here’s how it works:

  • If there is a tablet on the bus with internet access, the driver may log into buswhere.com and turn on the rider tracking interface.
  • If not, the driver may do the same from their phone or from a phone provided by the school.
  • As students get on the bus, the driver is presented with the students who usually get on/off at that stop and can quickly tap their name to virtually “swipe” them on or off the bus.
  • If the student’s name doesn’t show up, the driver may add them and associate them with their parent’s account
  • All of the parent notifications, analytics, and contact tracing of the regular BusWhere rider tracking work the same they do with RFID tags

If this solution is used together with hardware and tags, a student who forgets their tag can be virtually swiped on or off by the driver.

Interested in trying out BusWhere Rider Tracking without installing hardware? Contact support@buswhere.com now for a free trial.

Photo Credit: https://dataseti.blog/

in Feature Updates