GPS Tracking
Track every school bus in real time with 5-second updates, geofence alerts, mileage tracking, speeding alerts, and timestamped data that helps resolve parent questions quickly.
Learn More →School Bus Tracking App for Schools & Parents
Give families and transportation teams real-time visibility into every school bus with UniteGPS. Parents can see where their child’s bus is, view ETAs, and confirm ride history, while districts reduce phone calls, document student safety, and manage routing from one integrated, FERPA-compliant platform built for K-12 transportation across communities nationwide, from small districts to larger fleets.
Our School Bus Tracking App Services
UniteGPS combines live bus tracking, parent communication, routing, ridership, and district operations tools in one K-12 platform.
Parent App
Give families secure access to their child’s bus location, ETA, and ride history after district activation, helping reduce uncertainty and transportation office call volume.
Learn More →Ridership Tracking
Use card swipe on/off tracking to document which students rode each bus, support safety audits, enable advanced parent notifications, and verify special-education transportation.
Learn More →Route Optimization
Turn student enrollment data into efficient bus routes, rosters, and printable route sheets with automated optimization and optional hands-on planning from UniteGPS specialists.
Learn More →Driver Tablets
Equip drivers with onboard tablets for turn-by-turn school bus navigation, vehicle inspections, ridership scanning, categorized mileage, and daily route support.
Learn More →SIS Integration
Sync student enrollment data from systems like PowerSchool, Skyward, or Infinite Campus to keep routes, stops, and ridership records accurate without manual uploads.
Track Every Bus With Confidence
UniteGPS helps schools move beyond paper maps, parent phone calls, and disconnected tools. District teams can track buses, optimize routes, sync student records, and give families reliable arrival visibility from one platform. Parents gain peace of mind, while administrators get timestamped data to resolve questions, monitor performance, and strengthen daily transportation operations.
District Success Stories
See how school districts use UniteGPS to improve visibility, safety, communication, and transportation efficiency.
Why Choose UniteGPS?
UniteGPS is built for transportation teams that need practical tools, responsive support, and trustworthy technology.
Built specifically for K-12 transportation, not retrofitted from generic fleet tracking software.
K-12 Focus
Built specifically for K-12 transportation, not retrofitted from generic fleet tracking software.
Data Protection
FERPA-compliant platform protects student transportation data while giving families approved visibility.
Live Support
Unlimited live support means districts reach real people without ticket queues or delays.
Long-Term Partner
Founder-led, profitable, and bootstrapped, with no private equity pressure shaping decisions.
Meet The UniteGPS Team
Founder-led transportation technology 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
What is the best app to track buses?
The best app to track buses depends on whether you need consumer transit tracking or secure K-12 transportation visibility. UniteGPS is built specifically for school districts and parents, with live bus location, ETAs, timestamped ride history, routing tools, and FERPA-compliant student data protection. Parents use the app after their school district activates the platform.
Is there an app that can track NYC school buses?
UniteGPS is available nationwide, including New York, but parents can only track a school bus if their district has activated UniteGPS for its fleet. The platform is designed for K-12 districts across all 50 states, with live GPS updates, parent access, and district-managed visibility controls. Families should ask their transportation office which tracking system their district uses.
How does the school bus tracking app work for parents?
The parent app shows the school bus location in real time, provides an ETA, and includes timestamped ride history when enabled by the district. Advanced notifications, such as student scan-on and scan-off alerts, are available with the Tablet Suite. This helps families plan pickup and drop-off more confidently while reducing calls to the transportation office.
How often does UniteGPS update bus location?
UniteGPS school bus GPS tracking updates every 5 seconds, giving transportation teams a current view of bus movement. The system also works when ignition is off, which helps districts understand vehicle location beyond active routes. This real-time data supports parent communication, performance monitoring, geofence alerts, and dispute resolution with timestamped records.
Is UniteGPS safe for student data?
Yes. UniteGPS is FERPA compliant and designed for K-12 transportation environments where student privacy matters. Districts control access, and parents only use the app after the district activates it. Ridership records, SIS data, route information, and parent notifications are handled as part of a transportation platform built around student safety and data protection.
How much does the parent bus tracking app cost?
Parent tracking is included with the GPS Tracking & Routing tier at $25 per bus per month, with no separate charge to parents. Advanced parent ridership notifications are included in the Tablet Suite at $39 per bus per month, plus tablet-related costs. Routing-only districts can start with lower fleet-size-based annual pricing.
Can UniteGPS integrate with our student information system?
Yes. UniteGPS includes SIS integration in every tier at no additional charge, with configuration handled during the free 90-day onboarding period. This syncs student enrollment data into routing and ridership tools, reducing manual roster updates and helping routes, stop assignments, and student transportation records stay aligned with the district’s authoritative data source.
How long does setup take for a school district?
UniteGPS offers a free 90-day setup period with routes built for you by the team. The onboarding process can include routing configuration, SIS integration, GPS setup, and parent app activation depending on the selected tier. Districts receive live support from UniteGPS without ticket queues, helping transportation teams adopt the system with less disruption.
Still Have Questions About Bus Tracking?
Get clear answers from a transportation software specialist.
Awards and Recognition
Protects sensitive student transportation data.
Serving districts nationwide since 2014.
FERPA Compliant
Protects sensitive student transportation data.
Since 2014
Serving districts nationwide since 2014.
100+ Districts Served
Trusted by 100+ K-12 districts.
