W
hen Andrew Krahulik-Knapp arrived at Allen- town School District (Pennsylvania) in October 2023 as the director of transportation, he inher- ited an operation primed for a reset. While the
district had technology on its school buses, including stop- arm cameras, routing sat outside the district’s control. The transportation contractor at the time managed it,
Krahulik-Knapp explained, and district leaders had lim- ited ability to manipulate routes, analyze the network or use their own data to make strategic decisions. “The routing just wasn’t working to our advantage,”
he recalled, noting Allentown went out to bid for a new contractor. In less than two years, the district began transforming transportation from a contractor-led operation into a technology-enabled district function. Allentown brought routing in-house, rebuilt its data infrastructure, intro- duced new digital communication tools for families, and used technology to make faster, more informed deci- sions about a complex urban transportation network.
Taking Back Control The decision to bring routing in-house actually began
before Krahulik-Knapp arrived. An operational audit recommended that the district take greater ownership of the function, a change Krahulik-Knapp said has since helped Allentown better manage its transportation oper- ation and maximize its state transportation subsidy. The timing, however, made the transition a challenge.
Allentown’s previous transportation contract ended June 30, 2024. Student Transportation of America (STA) began serving the district the next day. At almost the same time, Allentown was implementing Tyler Technologies’ Traversa routing platform and transitioning its student information system to PowerSchool. If that’s not all, the district wasn’t migrating a polished
routing database from one system to another. It was starting over. “The old contractor held on to everything,” Krahulik-Knapp said. “We had routes, but we didn’t really have much else.” Allentown didn’t have the transportation information
structured in a way that could simply be uploaded, rear- ranged and optimized. Routes and operational data had to be rebuilt as the district simultaneously prepared for a new contractor and a new school year. “It was kind of the perfect storm,” he said. Krahulik-Knapp credits collaboration among the
district, STA’s regional routing staff and Tyler’s training team for helping Allentown move through the transition.
The Routing Transition The district serves approximately 16,500 public school
students and roughly 21,000 to 22,000 students when charter and nonpublic students are included. About
64 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2026
6,000 students receive district-arranged transportation. Approximately another 4,000 secondary students use the local public transportation system through a part- nership that allows them to ride with their student IDs. Allentown ended last school year operating 139 routes. One of the clearest examples of how Allentown has
evolved into a technology super user is the way Krahu- lik-Knapp and his team use Traversa’s fleet scheduling capabilities. Pennsylvania’s transportation subsidy formula creates incentives around factors including mileage and the number of students being transported. After taking greater control of its routing, Allentown shifted elementary bell times by 15 minutes, allowing the transportation team to pair routes that had previously operated as individual tiers, thus, increasing the mileage and the number of students. Instead of relying on printed routes, laying them next
to one another and manually determining which could work together, staff can now manipulate routes digitally on a master fleet schedule. This allows them to move times, test combinations and immediately see how dif- ferent pieces of the transportation system fit together. “You can just take things and move them around,” Kra-
hulik-Knapp said. “See how they work, see how they pair.” This helped the district evolve its routing process. The team can examine sections of routes, identify opportu- nities to combine trips and make decisions that improve bus utilization while also supporting the district’s subsidy strategy. And during the final weeks of summer planning, the department was working to resolve hundreds of mov- ing pieces before the first day of school on Aug. 24. Being able to model those adjustments digitally became particu- larly valuable. “It really saved us a lot of time,” he said.
Technology Affecting Families Allentown’s technology journey didn’t stop with
routing. One of the biggest opportunities has been using transportation technology to solve a problem families experience every day: Communication. Communication between transportation and par-
ents had been a persistent challenge. Allentown began addressing that through Tyler’s My Ride K-12 app. Rather than launching the technology districtwide on day one, Krahulik-Knapp chose a deliberately measured rollout. The district started with two pilot schools during the
winter, focusing on some of its youngest students. The response was immediate enough that some parents approached bus drivers just to thank them. Allentown then expanded use of the app during its
extended school year program before preparing for a districtwide rollout this school year. Parents can now see where the bus is and how close it is to their stop. They can message the transportation department directly. If a student will not ride on a particular day, that information
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