Maintaining a school bus fleet is one of the single most costly items in a district's budget, but it's one which is absolutely necessary. Schools must run buses and must provide transportation to any families who ask for it. This places a big burden on schools; a burden which is only growing heavier as districts struggle to find enough bus drivers for their routes.
Across the country, school districts are facing budget cuts, forcing transportation departments to make the most out of every dollar. Optimizing routes for maximum efficiency is one of the best ways to save on fuel and staffing costs, while ensuring student safety. The process of organizing efficient routes is often time-consuming and complicated. Utilizing school bus routing software allows transportation departments to achieve their goals easily and efficiently.
School districts with budget constraints and looming cuts are seeking out ways to get the most bang for their buck. Many are finding that bus route optimization is the perfect solution for saving money.
Even when software is easy to use, it's only as useful as the data that goes into it. So, to get the most out of BusBoss, or any bus route optimization software program, a certain amount of preparation will go a long way.
Chances are, your student management is organized, in some fashion, with a student database at the center of it. You have a list of students, and you go from there: they get use to routine bus routes, to classes, and so forth. That's the standard way.
With the recent tragedy in Connecticut, public school safety is once again among the most important discussions in the nation. While the Newtown shooting may not have been easily avoided, anyone with responsibility in a school district should be looking for new ways to help guarantee the safety of their own students. Parents and children both are going to be worried about being properly protected, so this is a good time to look towards new safety features.
Route Optimization Services - What should I expect?
Whether you are the school administrator and handling thousands of students and hundreds of faculty, a transportation director overseeing all of the bus routes and drivers, superintendent, or even a business manager, having up to date information to ensure the safety of all the students under your care is more than likely a top priority. Back in the old days, making sure all students who used the bus system to get to and from school wasn't as efficient and meant a lot of paperwork and manually keeping track of dozens of bus routes.
With schools constantly seeing their budgets slashed, you're undoubtedly feeling the pinch yourself if you're in the business of providing school bus services. Economization is the name of the game across our school districts, from bus drivers to teachers. If you want to stay competitive and keep your profit edge, you need to be able to guarantee the best results with the least waste.
If you're in the business of planning a school's bus schedule, we don't have to tell you how demanding the job is. Hundreds or thousands of children rely on you to get to and from school safely, and if any of them are even a few minutes late, you'll be hearing about it from panicked parents.
