🏫 SchoolRide

SchoolRide is a modern, real-time school ride-sharing and booking platform. It connects parents looking for safe transportation for their school-going children with verified drivers. The system supports role-based dashboards, real-time map tracking, push notifications, and detailed trip routing.

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🗺️ System Architecture

graph TD
    classDef client fill:#38bdf8,stroke:#0369a1,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff;
    classDef server fill:#10b981,stroke:#047857,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff;
    classDef db fill:#f59e0b,stroke:#b45309,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff;

    subgraph Client ["Client (React + Vite)"]
        A["Parent/Driver Dashboard"]:::client
        B["Redux Toolkit (State Management)"]:::client
        C["React Leaflet (Real-time Map)"]:::client
    end

    subgraph Server ["Server (Express.js)"]
        D["Express Router & API Endpoints"]:::server
        E["Socket.io Server (WebSocket)"]:::server
        F["Security Middlewares (Helmet, Rate Limiting)"]:::server
        G["Background Services (Cron, Nodemailer)"]:::server
    end

    subgraph Database ["Database & Services"]
        H["MongoDB (Mongoose ODM)"]:::db
        I["Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM)"]:::db
    end

    A --> B
    A --> C
    B <--> D
    C <--> E
    D --> F
    F --> H
    E --> H
    D --> I
    G --> H

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✨ Features

👤 Role-Based Dashboards

• Parent Dashboard: Search for available school routes, request bookings, track active rides in real time, view children's trip status, and update profile options.
• Driver Dashboard: Manage vehicles, register seats limits, start/end school trips, navigate routes via Leaflet maps, accept/reject parent bookings, and broadcast real-time locations.
• Admin Dashboard: Monitor all active bookings, routes, user statuses, and resolve system issues.

📍 Real-Time Location & Tracking

• Interactive maps using React Leaflet.
• Real-time driver location tracking broadcasted to parents using Socket.io.
• Interactive starting/destination point mapping for routes.

🔒 Security & Optimization

• Secure authentication using JSON Web Tokens (JWT) and bcryptjs hashing.
• HTTP security headers powered by Helmet.
• API request throttling using Express Rate Limiter.
• Data sanitization and structured schemas verified through Joi Validation.

🔔 Notifications & Email Service

• Push Notifications via Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for immediate updates.
• Email updates (Verification OTPs, Welcoming, Password Resets) via Nodemailer using HTML email templates.

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🛠️ Technology Stack

Frontend (Client)

• Core Framework: React 19 (Vite)
• State Management: Redux Toolkit & React-Redux
• Styling: Tailwind CSS v4 (using @tailwindcss/vite compiler)
• Routing: React Router DOM v7
• Maps & Tracking: Leaflet & React-Leaflet
• Forms: React Hook Form
• HTTP Client: Axios

Backend (Server)

• Runtime Environment: Node.js (v20+)
• Server Framework: Express 5.x
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose ODM
• WebSockets: Socket.io
• Authentication: JWT (jsonwebtoken) & bcryptjs
• Validation: Joi
• Security: Helmet & Express Rate Limit
• Testing: Native Node.js test runner (node:test)

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v20 or higher recommended)
• MongoDB installed and running locally on port 27017

Setup Instructions

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/SchoolRide.git
   cd SchoolRide

2. Configure Environment Variables

   • Client Configuration Create a .env file in the Client/ folder:

     VITE_API_BASE_URL=/api

   • Server Configuration Create a .env file in the Server/ folder:

     PORT=5000
     MONGODB_URL=mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/schoolride
     JWT_SECRET=your_super_secret_jwt_key_at_least_256_bits
     NODE_ENV=development
     
     # Optional Email Configuration (smtp-relay)
     SMTP_USER=your_smtp_user
     SMTP_PASS=your_smtp_password
     SENDER_EMAIL=noreply@schoolride.com
     
     # Optional Firebase Configuration (for Push Notifications)
     FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID=your_firebase_project_id
     FIREBASE_CLIENT_EMAIL=your_firebase_client_email
     FIREBASE_PRIVATE_KEY=your_firebase_private_key

3. Install Dependencies

   • For the Server:

     cd Server
     npm install

   • For the Client:

     cd ../Client
     npm install

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🏃 Running the Application

Starting in Development Mode

To run both services simultaneously, run the dev script inside each directory:

1. Start the Backend Server (Server)

   cd Server
   npm run dev

   This launches the backend using nodemon on http://localhost:5000 (API docs available at http://localhost:5000/api-docs).

2. Start the Frontend App (Client)

   cd Client
   npm run dev

   This launches the Vite development server on http://localhost:5173 (automatically proxies /api calls to the backend).

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🧪 Testing

Server Test Suite

The Server contains comprehensive unit tests for controllers and models using the native Node.js test runner (node:test).

• To run the tests:

  cd Server
  npm test

Virtual Endpoint Testing

The test suite includes a virtual testing tool (tests/virtual.test.js) that simulates client-side fetch requests to verify active API routes and map controllers.

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📖 API Documentation

API documentation is generated dynamically via Swagger. Once the backend server is running, visit: 👉 http://localhost:5000/api-docs

Key API routes:

• POST /api/auth/register - Create user accounts (role: parent/driver)
• POST /api/auth/login - Authenticate and establish session cookies
• POST /api/vehicle - Create vehicle listings (seats availability, license details)
• GET /api/routes - Retrieve routes mapping
• POST /api/trips - Create and schedule active trips
• POST /api/location - Broadcast driver coordinate coordinates