A new school run travel smartphone app to ensure students are not left on the bus in the sun aims to offer a timely ‘safety net’ and complement existing systems, including dashboard cameras and motion sensors, as well as complement stringent measures to hire only licensed drivers and vehicles.
Local transport business Plus Rental created the platform and has been in talks with the General Directorate of Traffic and the Education and Transportation and Telecommunications ministries for a possible roll-out of the ‘life saver’.
“We observed that parents get stressed until their ward reaches the school,” explained app developer Plus Rental chief operations officer Hussain Al Kadhem. “But it is not sustainable for them to call the driver, who must concentrate on the road, or the nanny, who is focused on controlling the children.”
Elaborating on the features, Mr Al Kadhem revealed that there is a setting to ‘end the trip’, which can be activated only after every child has been accounted for, ensuring fool proof safety.
“Despite the live tracking, the question remains: did my child get on or off or is still in the bus? In the past, we have seen incidents where the child misses the bus or remains behind. Our application will not let the nanny end the trip unless all children have been dropped off,” he explained.
Additionally, the easy-to-use interface allows parents to make an update in case they do not want their child picked up or dropped off, which can help avoid unnecessary trips and streamline resources.
Mr Al Kadhem went on to highlight other features like a ‘live chat’ service within the application and an emergency WhatsApp feature. He noted that a new feature was recently added after a series of internal tests allowing parents to access information on the number of seats available on a particular bus on their route.
“If, for instance, a parent with two wards registers but there is just one seat available on the bus for their route, they can reach out to us via the app and we might decide to allot a bigger bus for that route,” he explained.
Plus Rental has a wide range of services, including school transportation, car and truck rentals and limousine facilities, among others. For now, the app will cover private schools, starting with its network which includes Capital School, Naseem International School, Nadeen School and Britus International School, among others. However, there are plans to eventually expand to other institutions including government schools.
“Government schools have multiple buses for each route and no nannies, which is challenging. But we are hopeful to have a way to incorporate them in the future,” he added.
Presently, Bahrain has nearly 50 private educational institutions and more than 200 public schools. Each of them has multiple routes from across the island.
“Plus Rental alone has routes stretching out to as far as Jaw, Askar, Durrat Al Bahrain and Khalifa City,” Mr Al Kadhem added.
Further details will be announced shortly.
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