A JCPS bus can be on the road even when My Ride K 12 is not showing parents what they expect to see.
During the first week of school, some families reported buses missing from the live map, notifications arriving late and substitute bus information failing to update. Superintendent Brian Yearwood acknowledged problems with the new app and described them as early glitches the district expected to fix.
The reports do not mean My Ride K 12 is failing for everyone. WDRB also interviewed a parent who said live tracking, boarding notifications and arrival information were working well for her.
But when the screen and the street disagree, parents need to know which information to trust.
What My Ride K 12 is supposed to show
JCPS replaced Edulog with My Ride K 12 for the 2026 to 27 school year.
The district says families who link their children should be able to see the assigned bus number, daily substitute bus information and the live bus location on a map. JCPS also recommends keeping push notifications turned on for schedule changes.
JCPS My Ride K 12 instructions
Before the school year began, JCPS told WDRB the new system should be more accurate than Edulog because it connects directly to district transportation software rather than through a third party.
The first week showed that the information does not always reach a parent's phone correctly.
If the bus disappears from the map
A blank map creates a difficult question at 7 in the morning.
Is the bus late?
Is the tracking information not updating?
Or is no bus coming?
Those are different problems, and the app itself may not answer the question.
WDRB reported August 13 that some parents said My Ride K 12 failed to show their buses altogether. Another parent told the station her notifications were regularly about 10 minutes late.
There was also at least one first day case where the transportation problem was not merely an app issue.
WAVE reported that about 12 students waiting near 10th and Chestnut streets were left without a bus on August 6. JCPS said it would submit a ticket to correct the problem for the next day, while families had to arrange transportation to school that morning.
A missing bus icon and a missing bus can look very similar to a parent standing at a stop.
They are not the same problem.
Keep using the scheduled bus time
JCPS directs families to Bus Teller through its Transportation Portal for their child's official stop, pickup time and transportation assignment. The district's current rider instructions also tell students to arrive at the stop five minutes before the scheduled bus time.
JCPS Transportation Portal and Bus Teller
If My Ride says the bus will arrive later, be cautious about using that estimate as permission to leave home later. WDRB's report of notifications arriving about 10 minutes behind the actual activity shows the risk.
The scheduled pickup time remains the safer number for deciding when a child should be waiting at the stop.
Substitute buses have caused their own confusion
Substitute bus information is one of the features JCPS specifically promoted.
The district says families should see daily substitute bus updates once their child is linked to My Ride K 12.
WDRB interviewed JCPS parent Brandi Tyler Merrill after the first week of school. She told the station the app had generally worked well for her, but on one Tuesday it failed to update her about a substitute bus.
For younger riders, the better rule is not simply to memorize one bus number. Students should ride the bus serving their assigned route as directed by JCPS staff and should not decide on their own to take a different bus.
JCPS says students are expected to ride their assigned buses and cannot switch buses without authorization from a principal or Transportation Services.
So if a different bus arrives at the stop, the lack of a substitute number in My Ride does not by itself prove the bus is wrong.
What to do when My Ride is wrong
Start with Bus Teller and confirm the child's assigned stop, bus and scheduled time.
If My Ride is showing something different, take a screenshot before the information changes. Try to capture the time as well.
A screenshot showing an expected arrival at 7:45 when the bus actually arrived at 7:35 gives the district something specific to investigate.
For route questions, JCPS currently tells families to contact their child's school or the Transportation Office at 502 485 3470. The district says families may get information more quickly from the appropriate bus compound after school is underway.
JCPS Student Transportation Services
The temporary 485 RIDE hotline closed August 11. JCPS directed families with transportation questions back to their schools and the regular transportation system.
Repeated problems are worth documenting. The same bus disappearing from the map every morning, substitute information repeatedly failing to appear, or notifications consistently arriving after the bus gives JCPS something more specific to investigate than a single bad update.
What JCPS has not told parents
JCPS has publicly acknowledged glitches. What it has not publicly provided is enough information to show their scale.
As of August 20, JCPS Insider could not find a districtwide public count of My Ride complaints, the number of affected routes, the percentage of buses experiencing tracking failures or data showing whether the problems decreased after the first week.
There is also no public breakdown showing whether certain bus compounds or routes are experiencing more problems than others.
Without those numbers, scattered parent reports cannot tell us whether the remaining issues are isolated or widespread.
That is the piece still missing.
My Ride K 12 can give parents something they have wanted for years: a much clearer view of where their child's bus is.
But when the app says one thing and the bus stop says another, start with the scheduled transportation information, document the discrepancy and call JCPS.