Cobb County

Parents will soon be able to use Uber-like tech to track school buses

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — One metro school district is making it easier to keep tabs on your child's school bus.

If you're a parent and your kid takes the bus to school, wouldn't it be great to have an app on your phone to track the progress of bus?

Parents and students in Marietta will soon have that option.

Each day, over 5,500 students take the bus to and from school in Marietta. And as roads get more congested, the timing of buses picking up and dropping off students can get more unpredictable.

“We not only have to worry about getting kids home safety, we have to worry about the changing traffic conditions,” said Assistant Superintendent Eric Hofstetter.

But help is on the way.

In the coming months, Marietta schools will implement an app-based mobile system to track the location of school buses in real time.

It will look and operate much like ride sharing apps for Uber and Lyft.

“It's a lot of the same technology,” Hofstetter said. “So when you look on there, you can see it's four minutes away, three minutes away, things of that nature.”

Hofstetter said the system will have layers of privacy and security features to protect students.

“They would log in with their password and it has a two-verification process,” Hofstetter said. “The parent can see their child's bus, know where the stops are, the time and we'll also send parent notifications.

TRENDING STORIES:

The new bus app will also be used to track real-time progress on student field trips.

Parents Channel 2's Tom Regan spoke with think it will be a great time saver.

“That's always important with the traffic in Atlanta,” said parents Tom and Kayree Jones.

“If I have an app, I can check on him, because he can't call. So I love that idea,” said parent Katrice Simmons.

The Marietta school system will begin testing the app this summer and launch it in time for the fall semester.