Live GPS Tracking
Track school buses in real time with GPS updates every 5 seconds, ignition-off visibility, route activity history, and timestamped data for transportation teams.
Learn More →Real-Time School Bus Tracking Software
Give families and transportation teams real-time visibility into every school bus with UniteGPS. Our software combines 5-second GPS updates, parent ETAs, alerts, route data, and ridership records in one FERPA-compliant platform. Built for K-12 districts nationwide, it helps reduce office calls, improve safety, settle disputes with timestamps, and make student transportation easier to trust.
Our Real-Time School Bus Tracking Software Services
Integrated tracking, parent communication, routing, alerts, ridership, and SIS tools for K-12 transportation teams.
Parent Tracking App
Give families district-approved access to bus location, ETA details, and ride history so they spend less time waiting and calling the office.
Learn More →Fleet Alerts
Use speeding, idle, and geofence alerts to help transportation leaders identify exceptions, review route behavior, and respond quickly to operational concerns.
Learn More →Ridership Tracking
Add card swipe on/off tracking to document which students rode which bus, when they boarded, and when they exited.
Learn More →SIS Integration
Sync enrollment data directly into routing and ridership workflows, reducing manual roster updates when students move or change schools.
Route Management
Combine tracking with optimized routes, printable route sheets, rosters, and Find My Route tools for a complete transportation workflow.
Learn More →Know Where Every Bus Is
UniteGPS gives K-12 transportation departments more than a dot on a map. Administrators see live locations, alerts, mileage, and route activity, while families get better arrival visibility through the parent app. Built from real district feedback since 2014, the platform helps reduce phone calls, document incidents, and give every stakeholder clearer, more dependable school bus information.
Customer Success
Districts and transit teams use UniteGPS to improve visibility, communication, routing, and day-to-day transportation trust.
Why Choose UniteGPS?
UniteGPS helps districts improve visibility, safety, and transportation operations without unnecessary complexity.
Protect student transportation data with FERPA-compliant tools designed for K-12 district operations.
FERPA Compliant
Protect student transportation data with FERPA-compliant tools designed for K-12 district operations.
Live Support
Get help from real people with unlimited live support, not impersonal ticket queues.
Integrated Platform
Use one platform for routing, GPS tracking, parent visibility, ridership, tablets, and SIS integration.
Founder-Led
Work with a profitable, founder-led company built for long-term district partnerships nationwide.
Meet the UniteGPS Team
Founder-led transportation software built from real district needs.
Christopher Bunnell
Co-Founder
Christopher Bunnell is a Co-Founder of UniteGPS, the company he helped launch in 2014 after watching his own children wait in the freezing Maine winter for a school bus with no arrival information. Driven by that firsthand frustration, Chris partnered with Steve C. Lanning and Steven J. Lanning to build a real-time GPS tracking solution that gave families the visibility they deserved. Before UniteGPS, Chris served as the on-site client representative in Baltimore for a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project, while the technical team operated remotely from California. At UniteGPS, Chris has led client relationships and stakeholder engagement since day one, ensuring the platform continues to solve real problems for school districts and transit agencies nationwide.
Steve C. Lanning
Co-Founder
Steve C. Lanning is a Co-Founder of UniteGPS, bringing deep database architecture and enterprise-level technical expertise to the platform since its founding in 2014. Steve previously served as an Oracle database administrator on a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego, where he first collaborated with Chris Bunnell. In the early years of UniteGPS, Steve balanced the project alongside other professional commitments until growing client traction made it a full-time pursuit. His database expertise has been instrumental in building a reliable, scalable platform that now serves over 100 school districts nationwide, supporting everything from route optimization to student ridership tracking and SIS data integration.
Steven J. Lanning
Co-Founder
Steven J. Lanning is a Co-Founder of UniteGPS and the primary architect behind the Crosswalk platform, which he has built and continuously refined since the company's founding in 2014. Steven began his career on the same Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project as his co-founders, focusing on solution quality assurance and software testing for production readiness while simultaneously pursuing formal software development training. When UniteGPS launched, Steven committed full-time to product development, translating real feedback from transportation directors and drivers into practical platform features. His customer-driven approach to engineering has helped UniteGPS grow into a fully integrated transportation management solution trusted by K-12 districts and transit agencies across the United States.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a way to track school buses?
Yes. School districts can track buses in real time using GPS devices connected to transportation software like UniteGPS. The platform shows live bus locations, updates every 5 seconds, and can share ETAs through a parent app when the district activates that feature. Administrators also get alerts, mileage data, route visibility, and timestamped records for resolving questions about where a bus was and when.
How to track when a bus is coming?
Parents can track when a bus is coming through the district-enabled UniteGPS parent app. Once the district activates tracking, families can see the bus location, estimated arrival information, and relevant ride history. Transportation staff can also use live GPS views and alerts to monitor progress, identify delays, and answer parent questions with accurate timestamped data instead of guesswork.
How often does UniteGPS update bus locations?
UniteGPS updates live school bus location data every 5 seconds, giving transportation teams a near real-time view of fleet movement. This helps dispatchers monitor routes, spot delays, review vehicle history, and respond quickly to parent or school questions. The GPS device is included with Tier 2, and tracking works even when the ignition is off.
Is the parent bus tracking app included?
Yes. The UniteGPS parent school bus tracking app is included for districts on Tier 2 and Tier 3. Parents do not pay a separate charge. Tier 2 includes basic real-time bus tracking, while Tier 3 adds advanced ridership notifications when students scan on or off the bus using the onboard tablet system.
What does school bus tracking software cost?
Real-time tracking is part of UniteGPS GPS Tracking & Routing, priced at $25 per bus per month, or $300 per bus annually. That tier includes routing essentials, the GPS device at no additional hardware cost, 5-second tracking updates, mileage tracking, alerts, analytics, and the basic parent app. Districts can upgrade to Tier 3 for tablets and ridership tracking.
Is UniteGPS FERPA compliant?
Yes. UniteGPS is FERPA compliant and built for K-12 student transportation environments where student data protection matters. The platform supports secure handling of route, roster, ridership, and parent communication data. SIS integration also helps districts keep transportation records aligned with authoritative enrollment sources while reducing manual data entry and unnecessary spreadsheet handling.
Can UniteGPS connect with our SIS?
Yes. UniteGPS supports automated SIS integration, syncing student enrollment data into routing and ridership workflows. This helps keep routes, rosters, stop assignments, and student records current when students move, change schools, or update transportation eligibility. Integration configuration is handled during the free 90-day setup and is included in every UniteGPS tier.
How long does setup take?
Setup includes a free 90-day onboarding period with routes built for the district by the UniteGPS team. Districts provide student and transportation data, and UniteGPS helps configure routing, tracking, SIS integration, and related tools based on the selected tier. The goal is to replace paper maps, manual updates, and disconnected systems with a working transportation platform before full rollout.
Still Have Tracking Questions?
Get clear answers from people who build and support the platform.
Awards and Recognition
Supports responsible handling of student transportation data.
Trusted by K-12 districts across the country.
FERPA Compliant
Supports responsible handling of student transportation data.
100+ Districts Served
Trusted by K-12 districts across the country.
Founded in 2014
Over a decade focused on transportation technology.
