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District previews Transfinder upgrade to give parents live bus alerts and routing improvements
Summary
Transportation staff presented an upgrade path for Transfinder including 'Plus' routing optimization, GPS/Wayfinder/map updates, and parent-facing modules (Where’s My Bus/StopFinder) that would allow opt-in boarding/exiting alerts; worst-case first-year hardware and software costs were presented at about $123,000, with recurring costs forecast in later years.
Patty (transportation staff) walked the board through Transfinder capabilities and a proposed move from the district’s current setup to a feature set that includes routing optimization ('Plus'), Wayfinder for map updates and turn‑by‑turn directions, and parent-facing modules like 'Where’s My Bus' and StopFinder. “The parents can sign up. They can get a notice that their bus is 5 minutes away from their stop,” Patty said, describing the opt‑in alert functions that would text parents when a child boards or exits.
Staff presented range estimates for implementation costs and noted several unanswered integration questions: some recently installed 'cradle points' on buses may provide usable GPS data and could reduce hardware purchases, but compatibility with Transfinder must be confirmed. Patty gave a conservative example where a fully hardware-heavy year‑one implementation could approach roughly $123,000 with ongoing annual costs that could be in the tens of thousands thereafter, while existing annual Transfinder maintenance payments were described as about $13,000.
