Warnings and problems on a run¶
Who can do this: Bus crew Administrator
Most runs need nothing more than tapping children on and off. This page covers what happens when something does not fit: a child who should not board, a run that never starts, and a run nobody finished.
The two afternoon warnings¶
On the afternoon run, PinkTower checks where each child is before they board, and shows the answer beside their name on My bus.
"Collected them": boarding is refused¶
For example: Mrs Bello collected them at 14:02.
Someone has already signed for this child at the gate. PinkTower refuses to board them, and the rest of the stop boards as normal. The time shown is in UTC, so in Nigeria it reads one hour behind the clock.
A pickup cannot be undone, so if a parent signs for a child and then hands them back, the crew would be stuck. If the child is with you now, select them, press On the bus, and confirm with Board anyway. It is recorded with your name, and their parents are told the child is on the bus.
"Marked absent this morning": a warning only¶
For example: Marked absent this morning — their pickup will not be recorded. It can also say excused or not marked in.
The child can still board. Children arrive late, and registers are not always complete. But PinkTower records a pickup only for a child marked Present or Late, so this child will still look as if they are at school. Their parents may get a late-pickup alert that evening.
Board the child if they are with you. Tell the office, so their teacher can correct the register.
Ask the child's teacher to mark them Present or Late. If the register is corrected before the bus leaves, the pickup is recorded when they board. See Take attendance.
Other refusals¶
The line at the top of My bus spells out anyone who could not be marked, and why:
- It is still the morning run. The afternoon run has not opened yet. Check the Morning run / Afternoon run choice.
- Preschool children travel with an adult. The youngest grades do not ride.
- The bus is not running today. See When the bus does not run.
- ... are not on this bus. The child is on another bus's roster. Ask the office.
- ... were not marked on the bus first. You marked a child Dropped off who was never marked On the bus on this run.
A run that never starts¶
If a bus has had nobody marked onto it by the time the school says the run should have started, PinkTower tells the driver, the conductor and every administrator. The alert reads, for example, Ikeja run: morning run not started, and says how many of the bus's children have boarded: 0 of 12 assigned children boarded. Twelve is everyone on the roster. Some may have been driven in by their parents.
Parents are never told. PinkTower does not know why the run has not started, and the usual reason is a forgotten tap.
If you get this alert and the bus is running, mark the children who are on board now. If the bus is not running, phone the office.
The alert is off until you set a time for it.
- Open Transport in the menu.
- Under Run times, fill in Morning run should have started by (UTC) and, if your bus runs in the afternoon too, Afternoon run should have started by (UTC).
- Press Save run times.
This time is in UTC
PinkTower reads this time as UTC, not your local time. Nigeria (WAT) is one hour ahead of UTC, so subtract one hour: for 18:00 in Lagos, enter 17:00. See Times are in UTC.
Set these only once you know what your runs really look like. A time that is a little too early sends alerts about a bus that is running perfectly, and people learn to ignore them.
The alert is not sent at the weekend, outside term time, on a closure, for a retired bus, or for a bus with nobody on its roster. Each bus is reported at most once per run per day.
Anyone who does not want these alerts can turn off Bus run alerts in their notification settings. Parents' School bus notifications are a separate setting. See Notifications.
When the crew forget the last tap¶
A run left open is closed by PinkTower after a set time, three hours unless your school changes it. It does not pretend the children arrived:
- Parents see Arrival not confirmed, with the time their child got on, and should ask the school office.
- A morning run closed this way does not mark anyone present on the register.
- No notifications are sent when a run is closed this way.
Mark every child Dropped off as they leave the bus. See Driver and conductor together.
To change how long a run can stay open, open Transport and change Close an unfinished run after (minutes) under Run times, then press Save run times. If parents ask about Arrival not confirmed, check with the crew whether the child got off the bus.