SchoolsBuddy Transport — End of Life and Transition to Vectare
SchoolsBuddy Transport will be fully decommissioned on 31 December 2026. This article explains what this means for your school, what happens next, and how we'll support you through the transition. Please add your school experience manager or schoolexperience@faria.org if you need support understanding the transition timeline
In June 2025, Faria Education Group acquired Vectare — a school-specific transport platform with nearly 10 years of experience working with leading international schools. Following that acquisition, we have made the decision to transition all SchoolsBuddy Transport schools to Vectare, which offers a significantly enhanced set of transport capabilities.
SchoolsBuddy Transport will be fully decommissioned on 31 December 2026. After this date, all access to the platform will end. Your migration will be managed directly by the Vectare team and your School Experience Manager to ensure no existing functionality is lost.
Overview
This transition applies to all schools currently using SchoolsBuddy Transport. By moving to Vectare, your school gains access to an industry-leading platform purpose-built for school transport logistics, ensuring upgraded safety features, better communication tools, and a reliable infrastructure for parents and administrators alike.
All existing data, routes, and integrations, will be migrated across seamlessly. Integration with SchoolsBuddy will also remain in place throughout your transition period to avoid any disruption to daily school operations.
What's New
Vectare was built specifically for school transport and brings a powerful, specialized ecosystem to your school community. Key capabilities include:
- Dynamic capacity management and real-time route adaptation.
- Live parental tracking accompanied by automated boarding notifications.
- Full WhatsApp integration to drive rapid, real-time communication.
- Centralised management of trips, fixtures, and ongoing bus bookings.
- Vehicle compliance management including daily vehicle safety checks.
- Parent change management features specialized for late buses.
- Live student registration directly from the field.
Step-by-Step Navigation
Initiating Your School's Migration Flow
School Support > Transition Portal > Vectare Onboarding
- Contact your School Experience Manager (SEM) as early as possible to flag your target timeline and outline any specific operational requirements.
- Coordinate with the Vectare Team during your introductory call with Alex Targett (Vectare's Global Growth Director) to map your historical transport data structure.
- Verify your data mapping for existing routes, student details, and third-party integrations (ManageBac+, OpenApply).
- Schedule staff and driver training sessions provided by Vectare to ensure internal alignment before launching to parents.
Tips & Best Practices
- Migrate Early: We strongly encourage all schools to complete their data migration well ahead of the peak seasons to ensure proper staff training and zero runtime disruptions.
- Leverage Calendly: You can book your introductory strategy and migration session directly via the shared Calendly link provided by your SEM to expedite scheduling.
- Utilize Live Tracking Features: Plan a communication campaign to parents introducing them to Vectare's live tracking and WhatsApp notification capabilities before going live.
Warnings & Important Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Will we lose any features during this transition?
No. The Vectare platform covers all existing functionalities provided by SchoolsBuddy Transport and introduces significantly deeper, school-specific logistics capabilities.
How long do we have to download our historical report data?
While live transport options shut down at the end of December 2026, you will retain access specifically to your SchoolsBuddy Transport Reports until 31 March 2027.
Who do I coordinate with for our migration strategy?
Your School Experience Manager (SEM) will closely partner with you alongside Alex Targett, Vectare's Global Growth Director, to handle timelines and configuration details.
In Summary
- SchoolsBuddy Transport is deprecating, with live platform support ending on 31 December 2026.
- All workflows are moving to Vectare, bringing advanced real-time tracking, WhatsApp compatibility, and data safety to your school.
- Full integration integrity and historical reporting support will continue during the transition timeframe.
Your migration path is fully supported by the teams at SchoolsBuddy and Vectare.