Overcoming Inefficiencies in Outdated School Bus Routes

Houston parents were concerned and then angry about hours-long school bus routes for the district’s student-passengers. “The kids get off the bus and they rush to the bathroom,” said one mom. Another parent said he tracked his student; after one hour on the bus the rider was only “five minutes from where they got picked up.”

The district blamed a newly implemented route consolidation. They said the consolidation was necessary because of the shortage of bus drivers, but they were also using outdated school bus routing software. They admitted there were “technical glitches resulting from incorrect application configurations…”

The district struggled with route remediations throughout much of the school year.

4 Ways To Solve School Bus Transportation Inefficiencies

In 2022, a federal program was established to upgrade one of the most outdated systems in the United States: school transportation. School transportation serves more than 25 million students daily and is the largest mass transit system in our country. But it has remained basically unchanged for decades.

Over-long bus routes are proven to negatively impact children’s mental health and jeopardize academic achievement. The unpredictability of departure and return times is stressful and disrupts family routines. Fortune magazine says the solution is cutting-edge technology. School transportation technology investments can be a win-win for parents, students, schools, districts, and bus drivers.

School bus routing software can optimize student transportation solutions:

• Analyze and improve your routing inefficiencies
• Attract a younger workforce to consider bus driving that develops and uses technology skills
• Enhance communication pathways between parents, students, drivers, and administrative staff
• Improve driver and administrative management
• Increase student safety
• Maximize bus route efficiency to reduce fuel and maintenance expenses
• Maximize decision-making with real-time management
• Reduce stress for parents and schools
• Ensure your compliance with Department of Education regulations and cybersecurity

BusBoss school transportation services can include the implementation of a customized software solution for your district.

1. Bus transportation diagnostics – Identify strengths, weaknesses, and ways to improve school bus routes.
2. Reports – You can easily generate the transportation reports required by the state and other agencies. The filter options allow you to do quick, informative sorts (schools, grades, names, etc.) or more complex data including mass-mailing information.8
3. Route analyses – Analyze current route costs as well as best-case and worst-case scenarios.
4. Student security protocols – Managing security threats, incident reporting, and access to real-time student information elevates safety.

For more than 25 years, BusBoss solutions have helped school districts become the flagships for efficient, school transportation models. You can follow routing optimization processes that other state school district leaders have found successful or become a leader yourself. Let’s examine your current bus transportation platform to find ways to reduce expenses and optimize efficiency.

Call 866-740-8994 or contact BusBoss.

Do you remember “the good old days” of paper-heavy school bus routing notebooks? Tell us about old and new technology investments that improved school bus transportation in your district.