efficiency is the driver shortage, said Antonio Civitella, president and CEO of Transfinder. Ten there other factors, such as the maximum distance of routes and maximum ride times for students, bus capacity and historical attendance. “For example, if a bus has 60 students assigned to it but only
40 are regularly riding it, there is additional room on that bus,” he reasoned. “Districts are using software that allows them to input all this data and also kick out suggestions.” School districts also find themselves in the predicament of
weighing increased parental service requests, and calls for increased transparency, with shrinking budgets. Tis makes apps a key cog in the wheel. But apps are only helpful if they provided updated infor- mation on school bus location. “If a bus is running 15 minutes late one day and 15 minutes early the next day, it makes it difficult for parents to manage their schedules and it is a signal to the community that the district doesn’t have a handle on its routes, stop locations and driving paths,” Civitella explained. Raymond Negrete is the operations coordinator for Clark County Schools. Te district uses “Speed by the Time of Day,” a function of ArcGIS ESRI technology. With it, the road network can reflect changes in average road speed to obtain more accurate route timing during rush hours. He says their routing technology has helped identify a greater need to focus on updating speeds in some areas, due to increased traffic congestion, road construction, pedestrians,
parent vehicles in and around the school loading or unloading zone, changes to county posted speed limits, and other accessible roadways that are not commonly used by daily commuters. “As our city grows, we have also recognized where our timing is pulling away when our planned routes are stretched across the valley,” he says. “In tighter, compacted areas within about 5-7 miles, where destinations do not require freeway travel or extensive major roadway travel, our timing is well within three minutes of planning.” He adds that prior to implementing the Speed by Time of Day,
there was a considerable amount of guess work being done both at the planning stages (by the routing and scheduling office), and actual driving (by the bus drivers). Tey are now better able to trust with a greater degree the total time being paid to the employee. Routing technology provides major benefits for districts, helping them achieve overall favorable outcomes. Over time, with access to better technology and with more options available to suit their unique district and its geography, demographics, and terrain, these outcomes will be more achievable, it is believed. “Given the costs to operate a single school bus and the potential savings opportunities associated with route optimization, school districts could be well-served by ensuring their routing is performed by highly-qualified specialists using the right tools for their requirements,” says Scott Parker of First Student. “Routing solutions will better leverage the most current mapping, traffic and navigation technolo- gies, to drive better, more accurate and efficient route planning.” ●
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28 School Transportation News • NOVEMBER 2018
Bucks_0718_HH.indd 1
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6/6/18 11:08 AM
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