T
here is no shortage of technology and software options available to student transporters to assist with the day-to-day operations of routing, stu- dent ridership tracking, GPS bus location, and
telematics. Districts are using these options to optimize their operations through more efficient routing and uti- lizing student ridership tracking or GPS to keep families updated on arrival times. “Since I entered the industry in 1999, route planning technology has always been a part of our operations,” commented School Bus Logistics founder and CEO Rob- ert Jacobus. “The question now is how we can leverage the technology within the vehicles and with the drivers to establish a baseline, run scenarios and identify efficien- cies. While much of this technology is available, the real challenge is knowing how to use it to our advantage.” Craig Lipps, transportation director at Guilderland
Central School District in New York, is overseeing the transportation of approximately 4,800 students every day on over 68 district-routes and six contracted routes for a total of over 1 million miles driven over the school year. Lipps, who has only been at Guilderland for a little
over a year, said he introduced Transfinder’s Routefinder software just weeks after taking the position. He said by uploading updated data into the system, staff were able to route the entire 2023-2024 school year and signifi- cantly reroute 30 contracted routes, consolidating them in-house, resulting in significant savings. “Craig Lipps used our technology, including Route-
finder Plus, Stopfinder and Wayfinder, to bring significant efficiencies to a previous district where he worked that ultimately brought him to the attention of Guilderland Central School District, which happens to be where I live,” commented Transfinder president and CEO Antonio Civitella. “Once there, Craig replaced their products with Transfinder’s solutions and brought effi- ciencies there to a whole new level. The fact that Craig staked his reputation on Transfinder demonstrates that he knows he can rely on us. We haven‘t and we won’t let him or his community down.” Lipps also spoke highly of the Routefinder safety en- hancements. “Once we enter all of our data into Routefinder’s sys- tem, it knows what we needed to know. We don’t have to
A Guilderland Central School District bus drops off students. The district consolidated 30 of its contracted routes in- house for the current school year by working with Transfinder.
56 School Transportation News • MARCH 2025
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
