School bus tracking and child safety in Zambia
Route43: every child boarded by QR tag or face, a run that cannot close while a child is still on the bus, and parents following on WhatsApp — no app, no login.
Proof at every stop
Each child is boarded by scanning a printed QR tag or by face, and the record stores how the child was boarded. Guardians receive the pickup and drop-off with time and place.
The sweep lock
A bus run cannot be marked complete while any child is still recorded on the bus. That single rule is the core of the safety promise: no child left on a bus because a driver forgot.
Parents never log in
Parents follow the bus through a tokenised WhatsApp link. Nothing to install, no password, no account for the school to administer.
Hardware on the way
Abby, a child-safety wearable built by Travis Labs that listens on the device for distress and alerts the parent and the school, is in prototyping as the hardware layer of Route43.
Questions we are asked
Do parents need to install an app?
No. They follow the bus through a WhatsApp link.
How does the school know a child actually boarded?
By QR tag scan or face match at boarding, recorded against the run.
Can a run be closed with a child still on board?
No. The system blocks completion until every child is accounted for.
Is it only for schools?
Route43 is built for school transport; the same platform carries fleet and field-work apps for other businesses.
Related
Tell us what failed.
A photo of the unit and its nameplate on WhatsApp is enough to start.