News & Events

From School BUSRide / May 14, 2025

In Perrysburg, Ohio (a growing suburb of Toledo) the Transportation Department at Perrysburg Schools has turned to Transfinder’s suite of solutions to manage the complex and ever-expanding needs of its school bus operation. With approximately 6,000 students in-district and another 600 attending out-of-district non-public schools, Perrysburg’s transportation team handles over 160 in-district routes and eight to 10 additional routes outside the district. As the district experiences steady growth and new construction, maintaining accurate and transparent transportation logistics has become increasingly challenging.

To meet these demands, Perrysburg adopted several Transfinder solutions starting in 2022, including Routefinder PLUS, Wayfinder, Stopfinder Communication, and Viewfinder. According to Stefanie Fliter, secretary for the Transportation Department, the switch was largely motivated by a desire to improve communication with families.

“Prior to 2021, we had a different routing software,” she said. “It had the GPS capability, but it didn’t talk to the parents. So now, we can talk back and forth with the parents on the Stopfinder app, which is wonderful. We can also tell them if a bus is going to be late, and why it’s going to be late. We can in real time, text them, and feed through the app what’s going on with us.”

The difference has been transformational for parents, who previously relied on bulk district-wide emails or phone calls to receive information—whether they rode the bus or not. With Stopfinder, parents receive route-specific notifications directly on their mobile devices.

Fliter said that introducing new technology to drivers initially came with some hesitation.

“In the beginning there was a little bit of pushback because it was like, hey, I don’t need this, I already know my route,” she said.

But she pointed out the risks of relying solely on driver familiarity: “What doesn’t work well is when your driver says they know the route, and then you have a sub come on your bus and the paper route is different than what you actually drive, and then the kids are yelling at you.”

To ease the transition, Fliter recruited a volunteer driver to pilot the Wayfinder tablet and act as a peer advocate.

“He really took it to heart, and troubleshooted with us,” she said. “That really helped change the culture… having that one person that knew it, and really dove into it and can talk with others about it. That helped me train others.”

For parents, Fliter led an outreach effort to encourage app adoption. Instead of simply giving out route information over the phone, she explained the benefits of using Stopfinder.

“I would tell them, I could just give you the route information, but I really want you to get the app, that way we can send you if the bus is late, or if there’s something going on,” she said. “Usually, they are open to it.”

The result has been impressive uptake.

“I think we’re at around 80 percent usability for those that ride the bus,” she said.

In addition to helping drivers and parents, Transfinder’s Viewfinder tool has empowered school staff across the district. As a read-only portal, Viewfinder allows administrators and teachers to check route assignments without calling the transportation office.

“Every building, if there’s a parent that needs to send their student home on a bus… they can just look at the Viewfinder really quick and find out what bus they’re supposed to ride,” Fliter said. “So, they don’t need to call us.”

The tool has become particularly useful when students require alternate drop-off arrangements.

“If mom calls in and says, Susie’s going home to dad’s house today, the school can go to Viewfinder, they look up where dad’s house is on the alternate, and they can put them on that right bus number,” she said.

Support and troubleshooting have also proven to be strengths of the Transfinder system. While Perrysburg’s in-house mechanic handles hardware issues, software questions are addressed through Transfinder University’s live chat and user forums.

“If they can’t answer that question in real time, they’ll schedule a call with you to talk about it,” Fliter said. “They’ll actually go into your system, they’ll look at your account, and they’ll help you.”

With these tools in place, Perrysburg Schools has elevated its transportation operation to meet the demands of a growing community, ensuring safe, efficient, and transparent service for students, parents, and staff.

As Fliter put it, “It’s fun,” but also clearly strategic: leveraging modern technology to build a more connected and responsive transportation system.

To learn more about Transfinder’s solutions and service, email getplus@transfinder.com, call 800-373-3609 or visit www.transfinder.com.