Route Optimization
Automate route planning from student enrollment data, create efficient bus routes, build rosters, and print route sheets without relying on paper maps or institutional memory.
Learn More →End-to-End School Bus Transportation Management
UniteGPS brings routing, GPS tracking, parent communication, student ridership, driver tablets, SIS integration, and Medicaid-ready reporting into one school bus transportation management platform. Built for K-12 districts and small to medium transit agencies, Crosswalk helps teams reduce manual work, improve safety visibility, support drivers, and give families dependable answers without adding complexity.
Our School Bus Transportation Services
A connected suite for routing, tracking, driver tools, parent communication, and student transportation accountability.
GPS Tracking
Track buses in real time with 5-second updates, ignition-off visibility, mileage categories, geofence alerts, speeding alerts, idle alerts, and timestamped dispute resolution data.
Learn More →Parent App
Give families real-time bus visibility, ETAs, and timestamped ride history through a parent app that reduces calls to the transportation office.
Learn More →Ridership Tracking
Use card swipe on and off tracking to verify which students rode each bus, support safety audits, and document special-education transportation.
Learn More →SIS Integration
Sync student enrollment data directly from the district’s SIS into routing and ridership workflows, eliminating repeated roster uploads and manual data entry.
Tablet Suite
Equip buses with driver tablets for turn-by-turn navigation, inspections, advanced parent notifications, student scanning, mileage records, and IEP or Medicaid invoicing support.
Learn More →One Platform For Safer School Transportation
UniteGPS helps transportation departments move from disconnected tools to one practical operating system for student transportation. Districts can plan routes, track buses, notify parents, guide drivers, document student ridership, sync SIS records, and produce reimbursement-ready reporting without private-equity pressure or ticket-queue support. The result is clearer accountability, safer visibility, and fewer manual tasks for busy transportation teams.
District Results
Serving districts and transit systems that need dependable transportation visibility, routing, and accountability.
Why Choose UniteGPS?
UniteGPS is built for districts that want practical tools, clear support, and long-term stability.
Crosswalk unifies routing, GPS, ridership, tablets, SIS sync, and reporting in one platform.
Integrated Platform
Crosswalk unifies routing, GPS, ridership, tablets, SIS sync, and reporting in one platform.
Student Privacy
FERPA-compliant tools help districts protect sensitive student transportation and ridership information.
Live Support
Unlimited live support means districts work with people, not anonymous ticket queues.
Founder-Led
Bootstrapped, profitable, and founder-led, UniteGPS builds for long-term district partnerships.
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
What is end-to-end school bus transportation management?
End-to-end school bus transportation management connects the core systems a district uses to plan, operate, document, and communicate transportation. UniteGPS combines route optimization, live GPS tracking, parent bus visibility, SIS synchronization, student ridership scanning, driver tablet tools, inspections, mileage categorization, and IEP or Medicaid-ready reporting in one integrated Crosswalk platform.
How does UniteGPS help optimize school bus routes?
UniteGPS route optimization turns student enrollment data into efficient bus routes, rosters, and printable route sheets. Instead of relying on paper maps, Google Maps, or one person’s memory, transportation teams can build repeatable routing workflows. The UniteGPS team also offers a free Route Optimizer professional service with a documented savings plan.
Does the platform include real-time GPS bus tracking?
Yes. UniteGPS provides real-time school bus GPS tracking through its GPS Tracking & Routing tier. Buses update every 5 seconds, can be tracked even when the ignition is off, and include mileage tracking, speeding alerts, idle alerts, geofences, and timestamped location history to help settle parent questions or operational disputes with data.
Can parents track their child’s school bus?
Parents can use the UniteGPS parent school bus tracking app after their district activates it. The app shows where the child’s bus is, provides ETA visibility, and helps reduce calls to the transportation office. With the Tablet Suite, districts can also provide advanced ridership notifications when students scan on and off the bus.
How does student ridership tracking work?
The Student Ridership Tracking System uses card swipe on and off tracking to document which students were on which bus and when. This creates a safety and compliance audit trail, supports parent notifications, verifies bus stop activity, and helps document IEP or special-education transportation for Medicaid reimbursement when used with the Tier 3 Tablet Suite.
Does UniteGPS integrate with Student Information Systems?
Yes. UniteGPS includes automated SIS integration in every tier at no additional charge, with configuration handled during the free 90-day onboarding process. The integration syncs student enrollment data into routing and ridership tools, helping keep rosters, stop assignments, and transportation records aligned when students move, change schools, or update eligibility.
How much does UniteGPS cost for school districts?
UniteGPS offers an upgrade path based on fleet needs. Routing Essentials starts at $49 per month for 1–5 buses, $98 per month for 6–15 buses, and $196 per month for 16+ buses. GPS Tracking & Routing is $25 per bus per month, while the Tablet Suite software is $39 per bus per month plus hardware and data plan costs.
What support is included during setup?
UniteGPS provides a free 90-day setup period with routes built for you, and the GPS Tracking & Routing tier includes a free 90-day trial with no credit card required. The team helps configure routing, SIS integration, and district workflows so transportation staff can start with practical outputs instead of an empty software account.
Still Have Transportation Questions?
Get clear answers from a team that works directly with districts.
Awards and Recognition
Protects sensitive student transportation data.
Trusted by districts across the country.
FERPA Compliant
Protects sensitive student transportation data.
100+ Districts Served
Trusted by districts across the country.
Since 2014
Founder-led platform built since 2014.
