Optimization
The Current State of
Rhode Island is the smallest
state in the U.S. but also a model of efficient and cost-effective
student transportation service via an innovative out-of-district transportation model reliant on partnership and customer service
WRITTEN BY RYAN GRAY |
RYAN@STNONLINE.COM PHOTOGRAPHED BY JAMES JONES
to a host of software solutions that, in partnership with GPS, allow school bus operators to uncover routing efficiencies and to better map routes to bell times, even adjusting the latter as necessary. Te list of potential solutions goes on and on. Te goal is for school districts to reduce operational costs, fun- neling more money to classrooms. Te same goes for a state with an area similar to that of many counties across the nation, but with every ounce of the same operational and cost challenges. Rhode Island is about the size of Fairfax County, Virginia but at the same time boasts the second-highest state population
W
hen it comes to squeezing transportation depart- ments for every last drop of monetary savings, optimized school bus routing is top of mind. Districts everywhere have turned, or are turning,
density behind New Jersey. In fact, the Ocean State crams about the same number of people per square mile as do Fairfax County and Montgomery County, Maryland, both growing Washington, D.C. suburbs. Rhode Island’s three-dozen public school districts also have similar budget holes to climb out of despite little if any new state funds. Making Rhode Island more unique are the many land jet- ties and bodies of water school bus operators must contend with. And up until about seven or eight years ago, each school district provided its own transportation service, or oversaw a hodgepodge of contractors. “In many cases that would mean a bus leaving multiple school districts with small numbers of students going to the same place- ment school outside of the district,” explained Cynthia Brown, di-
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