Oh, I was assuming a US-style school bus system where a separate yellow bus goes around and picks up the kids. It sounds like your kid rides a regular public transit bus to get to school? It's still unfair to have that system be inaccessible without a smartphone, but it's not as completely incomprehensible.
It sounds like they definitely need better UX, and the buses around here very much accept cash still (or special tokens if you buy ahead).
The one that she takes in particular is a school bus, in a weird kind of way. Seems that it’s run by a private company but it only services kids travelling to and from a couple of schools.
But yes, it’s not like the big yellow ones the rest of us know from The Simpsons.
It sounds like they definitely need better UX, and the buses around here very much accept cash still (or special tokens if you buy ahead).