This guide is for fixed-route bus operators who use the Spare Driver App on a tablet during a shift. It walks through everything you'll do in the app — signing in, starting your shift, navigating, counting passengers, and signing out at the end of the day.
By the end of this guide, you'll know how to:
Open the Spare Driver app and sign in for your shift.
Read your duty card and start navigation.
Follow turn-by-turn navigation through your route.
Read the Schedule view to see your trips, layovers, and upcoming stops.
Count passengers as they board.
Sign out cleanly at the end of your shift.
The four tabs at the bottom of the app
Once you start your shift, the app always shows four tabs along the bottom.
Navigation is your default driving view — full turn-by-turn map.
Schedule is where you check upcoming stops and layovers, and where you can open the passenger count panel manually.
Dispatch is how you talk to control by voice and text, and it holds the emergency button (if you don't see this tab, speak to your Spare Representative to learn more).
Profile is your account, settings, and where you sign out.
Step 1: Open the Spare Driver app
On your tablet's home screen, look for the purple Spare Driver icon and tap it to launch the app.
First time on this tablet? If the Spare Driver app has never been opened on this tablet before, you'll be prompted for an Organization Key before you can sign in. Your supervisor will provide it.
Step 2: Sign in
The sign-in screen reads "Log in using the method specified by your organization." Your agency uses either email + password or username + PIN — your supervisor will tell you which.
Tap With Email or With Username.
Enter your Organization Key.
Tap Next, then enter your email/password or username/PIN.
Don't see a duty after signing in? Your duty has to be assigned to you in Spare before it shows up. Call dispatch right away — they can assign or correct it from their end.
Step 3: Check your duty card
Once you sign in, the app greets you with "Hello, Driver" and shows a single Your duty card with everything you need to confirm before you roll:
Block ID
Driver ID (either a name or badge number)
Vehicle ID
Route tag (for example, HG DSE) — the short name of the routes you'll be driving/
Trip count — the total number of trips on this duty.
Time window (for example, 5:10 PM – 11:30 PM) — your duty's start and end times.
When you're ready, tap Start Navigation. The app switches to the Navigation tab and starts guiding you to your first pickup point.
Step 4: Navigation — driving the route
The Navigation tab runs full turn-by-turn directions over the route map, with a summary panel showing your next stop and whether you're running early or late. Here's what you're looking at:
Turn card (top-left) — the distance to your next maneuver, plus the maneuver itself.
Blue arrow on the map — your vehicle's current position and heading.
Next stop name — the upcoming revenue stop.
Scheduled time — when you're scheduled to arrive.
ETA - when we expect you'll actually arrive.
Early / late badge — for example, "11 min early" means you'll reach the next stop 11 minutes ahead of schedule.
As you approach a stop, the map zooms in. When you reach the stop's geofence (displayed on the map as the blue circle), the passenger count panel opens automatically — see the next step.
Step 5: The Schedule tab — upcoming stops and layovers
Tap Schedule at the bottom for a full read-out of what's ahead:
Next stop — a large display with the scheduled time and on-time status.
Layover card — if a layover is coming up, its location and time window.
Route timetable — every stop on the current trip with its scheduled time.
Count Passengers — opens the passenger count panel manually if you need it.
Step 6: Count passengers at each stop
When your vehicle enters a stop's geofence, the passenger count panel opens automatically. Tap as each person boards; the panel closes again when you leave the geofence.
The Total on board counter at the top goes up by one with each tap.
Tap Regular / Wheelchair / Etc + to add riders
If you mis-tap, use the undo arrow inside the Regular tile.
Swipe the arrow under Bus full if you're at capacity.
Panel didn't open? If the geofence doesn't trigger — a closed lane or construction, say — call dispatch and they can manually mark the stop as arrived. You can also open the panel yourself from Schedule > Count Passengers.
Step 7: Profile and signing out
The Profile tab (rightmost) shows your driver account and holds the Sign Out button you'll use at the end of every shift. From here you can:
Driver name + Edit Profile — confirm you're signed in as the right person.
Organization — the agency you're signed in to.
Settings — app preferences.
Help / Legal — in-app articles and licensing.
Sign Out (red, at the bottom) — ends your session.
Layovers, detours, and connectivity loss
Layovers & deadheads
At the beginning and end of trips or when you finish a trip with time to spare before the next one, the directions may show a deadhead. This will show a purple line and instruct the driver to "Deadhead to X". The Schedule tab may show a Layover card with the location and time window.
Detours pushed by dispatch
If dispatch activates a detour while you're mid-route, the app reroutes you automatically — the map updates and turn-by-turn picks up the change.
If you lose cellular or wifi
Navigation for your current trip keeps working.
Passenger counts you record are saved locally and sync once you reconnect.
Live updates and Dispatch voice won't work until you reconnect.
If something feels off, find a safe pull-out, restart the app, and call dispatch by phone.
Quick troubleshooting
No duty after sign-in — call dispatch; they'll assign it from their end.
Off-route warning — keep driving safely; turn-by-turn resumes once you rejoin the route.
Count panel didn't open automatically — open it from Schedule > Count Passengers.
Lost cell or wifi — navigation and counts keep working; syncing resumes when you're back online.
App acting up — close the app and relaunch it: open the tablet's recent-apps view (the button with three horizontal lines), swipe the Spare Driver app up to close it, then reopen it.
Questions about any of these steps? Reach out to our support team and we'll be happy to help.