ANALYSIS EFFICIENCY, PARENT SATISFACTION, MEASURABLE RESULTS — THESE ARE ALL HALLMARKS OF
GREAT STUDENT TRANSPORTATION SOFTWARE. And they are the reason that savvy superinten- dents and school business managers are taking note of the systems behind their operations. If you are looking for ways to address budget reductions, to show that you are creating efficien-
cies, to react to changes in your district or to manage the costs of special needs transportation, there are few options. Of those options, technology and software can deliver the most value. In- vesting in the right technology will produce positive results. If you knew that districts using industry-leading student transportation software spend up to
Providing
Information to Super-
intendents
Using Routing Software By Doug Hamlin
16 percent less of their total transportation budget would you be interested? You bet. A survey conducted in 2008 by Management Partnership Services, Inc., for the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials reported that districts with routing software saved approximately $118 per student annually compared to those without. So, if you transport 4,500 students, good software could save over $531,000 annually. Let’s look at the impact on efficiency. What specifically does an effective routing system do? For
one, it allows you to develop multiple “what-if” scenarios with projected costs to be balanced against the level of service demanded by parents. For a complete analysis, it should also handle both standard and special needs routes in the same application. And it should be able to suggest routes on the fly. Why is this important? You can plan better if you know the comprehensive impact of changes before you implement them. As an extension of this, these same scenario plans allow you to calculate the effects of a new school building, new housing developments and more on the costs of transportation. Other ways software can reduce operational costs are through powerful analytic tools. Using these
to shave just a few minutes off a route saves time, fuel, mileage, wear and tear, etc. Analyzing fuel consumption might help you decide to replace, not the oldest bus in the fleet, but the least efficient. It might also inform you that you should be using the gas hogs on the shortest routes. Monitoring preventative maintenance schedules prolongs the life of your vehicles. Te list could go on. As with everything, success needs to be measured. Superintendents and school business managers
should be monitoring certain key metrics. For example, knowing the cost per loaded mile, the cost per dead mile and the cost per student per bus per day are all important. Software can provide a daily reference point through a management dashboard with these and many more important statistics. Beyond these measurements, you should be using the data from your transportation manage-
ment software in conjunction with your entire operation to analyze trends, allocate resources and make data-driven decisions. For instance, if you were able to see a correlation between student achievement and the distance a child traveled on a bus each day, wouldn’t that be useful? If you could empirically show that altering an individual school’s bell time could eliminate the need for five new buses, wouldn’t that be useful? If information from your personnel files could be married to the transportation records for seniority-based assignments, employee development or succes- sion planning, wouldn’t that be useful? Look for a system that can provide tools to answer these questions. Asking the right questions and armed with the right information, you can support your decisions–and that is what accountability is all about. Speaking of accountability…no superintendent or school business manager wants to pick up the
phone from a dissatisfied parent. Again, the software is a valuable tool. Software provides account- ability. With system-generated routes and schedules, everybody knows what they should be doing and when. So when a parent questions when the bus was at a stop, for instance, the GPS informa- tion should provide the specifics of when the bus stopped, how long the door was opened and when it departed. Te system is also a valuable tool for tracking special requirements and ensuring that they are met. For instance, if a student has an IEP stating that an aide must accompany the student, the system should note that on the route plan. Te bottom line is that every superintendent and every school business manager should be con-
cerned with efficiency, service and results. Most will not see significant if any increases in their budgets for the foreseeable future. Adding personnel is not an option. Settling for the status quo only prolongs the day when real changes will need to take place. Te best proven way to address these issues is through the use of technology. Make sure that the technology you choose works for you beyond basic routing. Make sure it empowers decisions and provides excellent return on investment.
Hamlin is the president of Tyler Technologies’ Versatrans computerized routing solutions. 40 School Transportation News Magazine April 2010
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