GPS system for NYC school buses off to bumpy start

In an age when New Yorkers’ smartphones can surveil their every move, parents still struggle to figure out where their kids’ school buses are.

When New York City’s public school system launched its NY School Bus App in January, officials promised “peace of mind” to families who would be able to track students’ bus trips in real time. But 10 months into the effort, only 19,000 out 145,000 families – or just 13% – are using the app. Some parents who do use the app said they’ve still had trouble locating their kids’ buses.

“It’s simply not functioning as intended,” parent Adriana Alicea said at a recent City Council hearing on school bus service. “This is not just an inconvenience. It’s a safety issue.”

Efforts to equip the city’s beleaguered bus fleet with GPS technology have taken years and spanned across mayoral administrations.

In 2019, the head of the school bus system was fired after the schools watchdog, the Special Commissioner of Investigation, accused her of mismanaging a previous $8.6 million effort to put GPS on buses.

After that, the city inked a $36 million contract with the rideshare company Via to develop a user-friendly app.

When the app finally launched in January, families who often struggle with unpredictable school bus schedules and long commutes were hopeful that it would help them at least know when the bus was coming.

But advocates said some families struggle to log in, which requires them to use their New York City Schools account and student ID number.

“There are families that call us that need help … especially non-English-speaking parents,” said Lori Podvesker, a director at INCLUDEnyc, a nonprofit that serves young people with disabilities.

On top of that, parents have encountered glitches and some parents still don’t know the app is available.

“Many parents don’t know it exists,” Podvesker said.

In particular, some parents of students who use the bus system to attend private special education programs are confused about whether they are eligible for the app, though officials said they are.

At the City Council hearing, John Benson, deputy executive director of the education department’s Office of Pupil Transportation, said all school buses are now outfitted with the technology to communicate with the app.

But he acknowledged that some drivers, who must also sign in for the app to work, have failed to do so. He said more than 80% of drivers have turned on the technology – though it wasn’t clear if that meant they were consistently logging on each day. He said the agency is now holding “corrective action meetings” with bus companies to make sure the rest of the drivers comply.

“A driver’s equipment [used to be] a set of keys and a bus,” Benson said. “Now it’s also a cellphone and a username and password.”

Use of the app was part of protracted negotiations with the union representing school bus drivers last year, Chalkbeat New York has reported.

In a statement, education department spokesperson Jenna Lyle said the agency is working to expand and improve GPS service as it operates one of the largest bus fleets in the world. “We are proud to serve over 145,000 students via more than 9,000 routes every school day,” she said. “Every student and family deserve the support and resources they need to safely travel to and from school each day.”

Podvesker said the app should be working better considering all the money and time spent on the GPS effort.

“In this day and age, there is no reason for parents to not know where their kids are,” she said.