neat one! cost factor?

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This is so nice. It would also give parents peace of mind as well as to knowing where the bus is at any given time. I like it.

Cost factor, fossil? I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I'll try. Startup costs would definitely be an issue--the units themselves retail ~$300 each. The existing fleet tracking companies seem to take one of two tracks: sell the unit and the software to the user, leaving them to figure out or to operate the system turn-key, selling the notification services. I'm thinking something more like the second but it's definitely the more expensive route, requiring software, equipment, and access to a GPS system.

thanks, annie. that's what made me think of it.

i agree with annievee, as I tend to do.. but the costs do seem prohibitive. doesn't sprint or nextel have some sort of phone which this could be developed for?

ok what about if u talk to some companies on GPS sponsorship? I guess lot of kids focused firms will com forward! :)

I like the idea, I usually listen for the sound of a deep diesel and know I have 30 second to get out the door with the kids. Just wondering if this would be a user pay or if taxes could pay?

This would also be good for the trip home. If the children have to walk any distance at all from where the bus leaves them off, mom and dad could be watching when they arrive to keep them safe.

I like the idea and I think that a GPS service provider might be interested in sponsoring or even licensing as it should lead to more sales for them.

Hmm, not sure I'm convinced. You'd have to keep a list of all kid's addresses and then make sure you get the message out very quickly as the bus arrives. It'll be hard to make this work right. Also, what do you use for the messaging? Email? Cell phone text message? In the case of email, it could be delayed, in the case of cell TM it could be delayed as well and could incur additional costs.

Not sure on the need for this... When I was in school the bus was pretty consistent Plus the bus always went to a stop where everyone gathered so if you forgot your umbrella you could probably huddle under your neighbor's umbrella.

chrisritter ... I think most school districts prohibit cell phones on school property during school hours, which would preclude using that service.

bc/steve/ccozad .... I see this as being a service more useful to people who live in high traffic areas (where timing is unpredictable) and those whose children have to walk a block or two to the bus stop. In this day and age, a lot of bus drivers won't let a kid off the bus without an adult there, so having say 2 minutes warning would be great.

Maybe Willcom has the idea: developing the system and licensing it, because frankly, some of the GPS service companies already do this to a certain extent--the computers text message or email a client if a vehicle crosses a set boundary. I was thinking automated call to a pre-determined phone number--"the bus is 2 minutes away"

While I think district transportation departments would find it useful, subscription to parents will be the real money maker. I would gladly pay for such a service to save me time and worry, and I think other parents would as well. Those who didn't want to pay for it would benefit from the district buying it.

This idea might be good for the city bus. Then you can start running earlier :) Might be good to let people know if the bus is running on time or late and be hooked to a little LED map of the route. (of course the LED map might get vandalized, never see a bus stop bench or sitting areas stay nice for very long...)

BTW Lisa, I appreciate your response. Some folks dump an idea and don't check back on it. I gave you an extra star for being responsive :)

As the parent of two children, living in the STICKS, I just LOVE this idea!!! I can not even count how many times during the school year we miss the bus. If one of the students before our stop is sick or just not riding that day it makes the bus earlier and if we are ot running down the driveway he goes right on by!!!

Great idea,

My kid's school bus never arrives at the same time, we can wait 20 minutes outside (and I live in a really cold place:().
And it is hard for the parents to get a status on the bus, the school can't talk to the bus driver, they have to call the company (outsourced) and ask the dispatch who in turn talks to the bus driver and forward the info to us.
That would make life so much easier for me!:)

Maybe school buses should have sirens on them. This would be a pretty easy way to know that one is coming without all that complex technical stuff.

Long comment:

The place I work built a system that could do this. We had
1. custom gps hardware with integrated cell-phone based telemetry
2. cell-phone modem connected to logging software and a database
3. web site to show tracking locations, including contract with a street mapping service.

The prototypes are working, but project is currently NOT in use.

All parents would need to do is login to the web site for 15 minutes or so, each morning, and watch the bus location change. If their login account had their location programmed in, then it could generate a visual and/or audio alert to let the family know that the bus is nearby.

so: this is quite do-able, and could have a very positive impact on the lives of many parents.

when they hit high-school, my kids all have to catch a bus to school, but mostly they go early to the bus stop, and hang out with their friends. of course the weather is almost always good, as I live in Australia.

for places where the weather is bad and/or the bus arrival is erratic - this idea is brilliant!

gzep.

A truly unique idea in my opinion - keep this one alive and see if it evolves into something.

Good Idea but I'm always concern with hackers accessing the locations of kids which can be a problem with stalkers and kidnappers.

LisaS47 this is an excellent idea. (but I had the same idea a few years ago when my kids took the bus.) I think there is opportunity all over the place; but your basic assumption should be that the bus is usually on time and you want to be notified whenever it is NOT on schedule, though that's really a moot point as you'll see below.

The system has utility for parents (or others) who are meeting the bus--in the morning and the afternoon. The system also has potential uses for students, especially in the afternoon as the bus schedule may have changed and they need to adjust their plans accordingly. But aren't we really just talking about a real-time service to help us manage our hectic lives? I think we are so let's cradle our customers and give 'em service in 360-degrees.

While some schools may prohibit student cell phones, there's no reason notification of schedule changes can't be made by email to the student, or by email to the student's teacher, or perhaps it could send a message to a message board. [Additional service: Message Board for school, or classrooms, additional branding/advertising opps] But how about those very limited use phones...the ones that will only dial five, or ten numbers? Why not use these, but update them to include SMS--but only to/from a small set of pre-defined number of people.

If we assume the bus is on time and we only want to be notified when the system thinks the bus is OFF Schedule when it will initiate the action(s) you previously specified. (call your phone [landline|cell], spit out an SMS, send email). Though some might want, and pay even more for a series of phone calls (esp in the AM) to keep them informed of the progress of the bus as it progresses along the route.

Parents should be able to customize this app up the wazoo...they should be able to log in see a route map and set up notifications @ whatever points they'd like...the "virtual fence" concept.

Why not include driver messaging too? (Cell companies might love this...) They could have super fancy phones, or in the simpler format, the system could be set so that sms messages from verified phone numbers that the Parent has entered into the system--they could enter their phone numbers, grand-parent phones, etc. Only calls, or SMS's from these numbers would be forwarded to the driver to whom you could send a very short message...perhaps only pre-formatted messages: I am late, please take my kids to end of line; I am late please leave my kids unattended; I am late please drop my kids @ XYZ's house.

And how about additional functionality for the Driver?

They could use their phone to read them a list of names of the kids who are supposed to be on the bus--it could also include a pic of the kid. Humm...the friver could also use the phone to monitor the yelling in the bus; if it passed a threshold then bingo warnings go out to all the parents.

Lisa, this is a terrific idea. I'm glad you thought of it.

gzep .... it's good to know there's another way to do it than what I've been researching. if you don't mind my asking, why isn't your company pursuing it? (email privately if you prefer: 47thoughts at gmail . com)

dme21 ... actually, my assumption is not that it's always on time--but I think you've got great grasp of what I'm thinking. I like the idea of the live list for the driver but I'm afraid that would really skyrocket the cost/time issues ... not to mention distractions!

BklynBorn ... IHY ... surely there's a balance to be had there? Most of us bank online with confidence, surely we can find a way to make the system adequately secure ... accessible only from specific ip addresses/devices (using MAC/SIM ids) for example?

Sorry I haven't had time to develop this further yet, but thank you all so much for all the comments and thoughts. I'm trying to puzzle out next steps, because I think it's a salable idea.

I think it's a great idea for more urban areas, but where we live, it would take just as long to check it online as it would to take a peek out the window......we live in a small town though and our kids walk with other kids to the bus stop and walk home with the same kids. This would be great on the days when there's been a delay or schedule change of some sort. More than timing for us, I think the benefit would be for our school corp to be able to keep track of where the buses are-----so when I call b/c my kids are late, they can actually tell me why and where they are exactly.

how do you make money?

The most I have seen this done is for city buses and trains. I don't think it is worth it for the school bus. Also, where are you going to make a return there are all ready GPS systems out there. Nothing is stopping the bus company other then maybe cost.

Thanks for bringing back to my childhood days again Lisa. Envisioning myself chasing after the school bus was a distant memory till I read your idea. I think there is a viable market. Best of luck!