Riders

A rider is a person who rides the bus: your child, yourself, or someone you look after. Each rider belongs to the place (school or workplace) that is in use when you add them. You can have several riders.

Add a rider

You need to have joined a place first (see "Schools and workplaces").

1. Open Me and tap Add under My riders (during setup: step 2, Add who rides). The screen Who rides the bus? opens.
2. Optional: tap the round photo button to add a photo (see "Rider photo" below).
3. Type the rider's Name.
4. Type an Email. It is required. It is used to email you when the bus reaches the stop, if you turn that on.
5. Optional: type a Phone number.
6. Tap Next: choose a stop and choose the pickup stop (see "Choosing the pickup stop").

Each rider can be added only once per place. If the place or a family member already has a rider with the same name or email, the app says "This rider is already at this school. Ask your family member for the rider code, or ask the school for an invite code." and shows Use a code.

Add a rider with a school invite code

Your school or workplace can give you an invite code that starts with I-. It links you to a rider the place already has, so you don't need to add them by name or wait for confirmation.

1. Join the place and make sure it is in use (see "Schools and workplaces").
2. Open Me › Add, then tap Got a rider code from family?
3. Type the invite code in Rider code and tap Add rider. Spaces, dashes and small letters don't matter.

The rider appears on your Home right away, already confirmed, and your account becomes the rider's parent account. If another account already is the parent account, you are added as a family member instead, and that account gets an alert.

An invite code works once and for 14 days. The school may make it work only for one email address. If the app says:

• "This invite can't be used anymore. Ask the school for a new one." – it was already used, cancelled or is older than 14 days.
• "This invite is for a different email address…" – sign in with the email the school has for you, or ask them for a new invite.

Waiting for the place to confirm

A rider added by name and email has to be confirmed by the place. The school or workplace checks the rider in its own system. No email is sent to you for this.

Until the rider is confirmed:

• Home shows the rider with Waiting for confirmation and the message "place still has to confirm name. Once they do, you'll see the bus here."
• You can't open the live map for this rider.

When the place confirms, you get an alert and Home shows "name is confirmed — you can follow the bus now".

If it takes long, tap Remind the school on the rider's card on Home. The place's staff get a reminder. You can send one reminder per rider every 12 hours; after sending, the button shows Reminded. You can also contact the school office directly. If a family member already has this rider in their account, tap Use a code on the same card and enter their P- code instead. They then have to approve you (see below).

Family can follow a rider

A rider can be followed from several NexaRide accounts, for example both parents and a grandparent. The account that added the rider is the rider's parent account. Other accounts join with the rider code and only after the parent account approves them.

Every rider has a rider code that starts with P-. The code alone gives no access: the parent account always decides who can follow the rider.

If both of you prefer, you can still sign in to the same account on both phones.

Ask to follow a rider with a code

1. Ask the person who has the rider to send you the code: on the rider's page they tap Share with family, or Edit › Code for family › Copy / Send to family.
2. Make sure you have joined the same place as the rider, and that this place is in use (see "Schools and workplaces"). The code only works for riders of the place in use.
3. Open Me › Add, then tap Got a rider code from family?
4. Type the Rider code and tap Add rider.

What happens next:

• The rider already has a parent account: the app says "Request sent. You'll see the rider once their parent approves it." The parent account gets an alert and a card on Home. Once they tap Approve, you get the alert Request approved and the rider appears on your Home, already confirmed. If they tap Decline, you get Request declined and can't ask again for 7 days.
• Nobody follows the rider in the app yet: the app says "This rider isn't linked to a parent account yet. Ask the school for an invite code (it starts with I-)." A rider code alone can't add a rider to your account. See "Add a rider with a school invite code".

If the code is not accepted, check it, and check that the right place is in use. After 5 wrong codes in an hour the app says "Too many wrong codes. Try again later."

Approve or decline a family member

When someone enters your rider's code, you get the alert Someone wants to follow name, and Home shows a card "person wants to follow name" with their email or phone.

• Tap Approve, then Approve again to confirm. They will see the rider's bus live and get every alert.
• Tap Decline if you don't know them. Only approve people you know.

The same requests also appear on the rider's page under Family access.

If someone uses a school invite code for your rider, they are added without your approval, because the school vouches for them. You get the alert New family member for name. If you don't know them, remove them (see below) and tell the school.

See and remove family members

On the rider's page, Family access lists everyone you approved ("Sees the bus and gets alerts") and any requests still waiting. To take someone's access away, tap Remove next to them and confirm with Remove. They stop seeing the rider's bus and getting alerts. If they enter the code again, you get a new request.

Share the rider code

• On the rider's page tap Share with family. Your phone's share menu opens with a message containing the P- code.
• Or tap Edit on the rider's page: under Code for family, tap Copy or Send to family.

Whoever enters the code still needs your approval, so a code that gets forwarded can't be used to follow the rider without you.

A rider shared with you

If you follow a rider as a family member, the rider's page says "Shared with you. Only the parent who added name can change details or the stop." There is no Edit button. To stop following, tap Remove name from my list and confirm. This only removes the rider from your account; the parent account and the place keep the rider.

The rider's page

Tap a rider in Me › My riders. The page shows:

• the rider's photo and name, with their pickup stop ("Picks up at …"), No pickup stop yet, or Waiting for confirmation
• Today – when the rider got on and off the bus today (see "Trip history and attendance"), the next ride or the ride that is on now, and Trip history
• Bus routes – the rider's routes with their ride times. During a ride the route shows On now · open the live map; tap it to open the live map.
• Choose pickup stop or Change pickup stop
• Bus tag – only if the place uses bus tags (see "Bus tags")
• Share with family – sends the rider code (see "Family can follow a rider")
• Email me when bus arrives – a switch (see "Alerts and notifications")
• Family access – family members you approved and requests waiting for you

For a rider shared with you, the page shows only the rider, Today and Bus routes (see "A rider shared with you").

Edit a rider

On the rider's page tap Edit. You can change the photo, Name, Email and Phone, then tap Save. Next to the email you see whether the rider is Confirmed or Not confirmed yet.

Remove a rider

On the rider's page tap Edit, then Remove name from my riders, and confirm with Yes, remove name. You'll stop seeing their bus and getting alerts about them, and so will every family member you approved. Removing also deletes the rider from the place's passenger list, together with their photo and pickup stops. This can't be undone: to follow them again, add them again and wait for the place to confirm them.

Rider photo

A clear face photo helps the bus camera recognise the rider and mark them on board.

1. Tap the photo button (or Change photo when editing).
2. Choose Take a photo now or Choose from my photos. To delete the current photo choose Remove photo.
3. On Fit the face in the circle, pinch to zoom and drag to move the photo. You can also use the − and + buttons to zoom and the rotate button to turn the photo. Double-tap to zoom in or back out.
4. Tap Use photo, or Cancel to go back.

Tips: face the camera, good light, no sunglasses.

Common questions

Why is my rider "Waiting for confirmation"? The place has not confirmed the rider yet. Tap Remind the school on Home, or contact the office. Riders followed with a P- code or added with an I- invite code don't need confirmation.

Can both parents follow the same rider? Yes. One parent adds the rider and shares the rider code; the other enters it and is approved by the first (see "Family can follow a rider").

Someone I don't know asked to follow my rider. Tap Decline. They don't see anything about the rider unless you approve them. If you already approved someone by mistake, open the rider's page and tap Remove next to them under Family access.

I entered the code but the rider doesn't appear. The rider has a parent account that has to approve you first. Ask them to open NexaRide and tap Approve.

A rider disappeared from my account. If the rider was shared with you, the parent account removed you or removed the rider. Ask them. A rider you added yourself can't be taken by someone else's code.

Can I add myself as a rider? Yes. A rider can be your child, yourself or anyone you look after.

I have two children at the same school. Add each child as a separate rider. Each one can have their own pickup stop.

I see "Waiting for confirmation" but my partner already added this rider. Ask them for the rider code and tap Use a code. They then approve you, and you follow the same rider. You can also remove the rider you added: on its page tap Edit, then Remove.

My children go to different schools. Join both places. Add each child while their place is in use. Switch places on Home to see each one.

Why does the app need the rider's email? To send an email when the bus reaches the stop, if you turn on Email me when bus arrives. It can be your own email.