The "Here Comes The Bus" (HCTB) mobile or Web application allows parents and guardians to track their children’s way from home to the school and back, and also receive notifications whenever delays or bus substitutions happen.
Registration and Access
To register for HCTB, you will need:
- A personal email account
- Your child’s last name as it appears on the Parent Portal or Student’s Permanent Card
- EUSD school code (check with the school office or the Transportation Coordinator)
HCTB can be accessed through a Web browser and a mobile app, however, there are some differences between the two in which features are available and how they function.
- Mobile App: install the “Here Comes The Bus” mobile app from the App Store (iPhone or iPad) or Play Store (Android).
- Website: https://login.herecomesthebus.com
Mobile App Navigation
Home Screen
- Map: view the location of the bus in real time (the map refreshes every 10 seconds) while the bus is running its scheduled route
- Students: add more students using their last name and student ID or remove existing students
- Notifications: edit notification radius, set up notification rules for each of the 4 types of notifications, or view the notification history
- Bus Pass: view a scannable barcode for each of your students - these barcodes can be used when boarding: simply allow the bus driver to scan the barcode off your mobile device.
- Settings: add more email addresses for push notifications under Contacts, change your password, change the display language, or delete your HCTB account
- Help: contact support or browse how-to guides
Notifications
Four types of notifications can be set up as email messages and/or push notifications:
- Bus Substitution
- Stop Radius Entry
- Stop Radius Exit
- Student Scan
Stop Radius
Stop Radius is a 250ft to 2mi radius that you can set up for each of your child’s stops (typically AM and PM). Smaller radius makes for a more accurate notification that pertains to your pick-up/drop-off location and time. By default, the stop address is in the center of the circle defined by stop radius, but you can tap and drag the map around the circle for a better placement. You will receive notifications whenever the bus is entering or exiting the area that you specified (separate settings for entry and exit). [Elaborate on how to get accurate?]
Important: the “stop” (octagon) and “school” (building) icons will be either red or green for each bus run during each time of the day (AM, MID, PM). The color change is NOT determined by the location or size of the radius that you defined - it’s for notifications only. Refer to the Map Legend section for details on icons and color changes.
Student Scan
If you turn on notifications for student scans, you will get notified every time your child is scanned onto or off the bus. The scan will appear as a blue circle on the map with a number on it. That number is the number of the scan that happened during the bus run on that day. For example, the first scan of the day would be at your house where the student is picked up. The second scan would be at the school where the student is dropped off. The third scan, again, at the school - for MID or PM pick-up. And the fourth scan, finally, back at the house - a drop-off. As a means of tracking your child, the Student Scan is more reliable than Stop Radius because a registered scan onto/off the bus is a sign that your child boarded or left the bus. Stop Radius only tracks buses passing through your notification area - not whether your child has come on board or not.
Bus Substitution
If you choose to receive notifications for bus substitutions, you will get notified whenever your route’s bus gets replaced by a different one due to vehicle maintenance or other circumstances. Bus substitutions are temporary.
AM, MID, and PM
Your default map view will change automatically depending on the time of the day whether you have any bus runs to observe during that time or not. AM will display from midnight to 10:29am; MID will display from 10:30am to 12:00pm; PM will display from 12:01pm to 11:59pm. If it’s 11:00am right now, for example, and you’re looking to check the status of the morning run, you will need to switch from MID to AM on your Map Legend view. The icon for the time of the day is located at the bottom-right corner of the map.
Map Legend
Depending on whether you’re viewing HCTB through the mobile app or a Web browser, icons on the map will look slightly different for the same action. Refer to the legend below for details.
| Action | Mobile App | Web Browser |
| The bus has not arrived at the stop |  |  |
| The bus has arrived at the stop |  |  |
| The bus has not arrived at the school |  |  |
| The bus has arrived at the school |  |  |
| The current location of the bus |  |  |
| The notification radius of the stop |  | |
| The student has boarded or exited the bus |  |  |
Web vs Mobile App
Map refresh: 10 seconds in the mobile app; customizable in the Web browser (10, 20, 30 seconds, or off).
Student and stops display: separate tabs in the mobile app; single screen in the Web browser.
Notifications: all notification options display for each action (stop/scan/substitution) in the mobile app; notification preferences in the Web browser display on a separate screen “Edit Contacts”.
Notification history: all history for the selected student is displayed in the mobile app, no option to filter; “today’s” history is displayed in the Web browser, you can filter by one of the 4 predefined date ranges, student, contact type, and notification type. Note that the following do not apply to EUSD although listed in the drop-down for “Notification Type”: Activity Ended, Activity In Progress, Activity Started, Calendar Exception.