Technology can also
help during natural disasters. North Carolina experienced devastating damage from the im- pact of Hurricane Helene last fall. Jeremy Stowe, director of transportation at Buncombe Coun- ty Schools serving the hard-hit Asheville area, said factors such as traffic, crashes, road conditions and inclement weather are all unpredictable chal- lenges that can impact on-time arrivals and cause routing challenges. Stowe will be a panelist
at this month’s STN EXPO East session, “Hurri- cane Recovery: Lessons Learned.” One of those lessons he will discuss is how optimizing bus routes from the start helps alleviate some of the routing challenges. “Balancing the need of noncontrollable items that will
I often see school districts planning routes based on all eligible students, but planning routes for actual riders offers significant benefits. It leads to better efficiencies and improved on-time performance.
-Robert Jacobus, School Bus Logistics
programs and home.” Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia has begun using Edulog for routing and student rid- ership tracking, alongside Samsara for GPS bus lo- cation tracking. Director of Pupil Transportation Jim Ellis said his district is still in the process of fully utilizing and processing all the data within the system and his team is working to use it to its full advantage. With approximately 550 driv- ers and over 600 buses for about 525 routes, Ellis said that they’re “moving at breakneck speeds in such a large area with multiple changes daily.” He also noted that 100 percent parent and
come up while adhering to strict schedules can be a complex task for those of us in the school bus business,” he shared. Stowe’s operations are in the first full school year using routing technology from Edulog and bus tracking technology from Samsara. He oversees 500 drivers with 210 buses traveling 273 routes. “With the implementation of routing and planning technology, I feel we have experienced an increase in route efficiency,” he said. “By utilizing such technology, I feel we can reduce travel time, fuel costs and other factors such as carbon emissions, while also improving on-time performance.” Edulog’s mobile app, Stowe explained, allows for par-
ents to be prepared for the bus arrival and reduce stress. He and the other directors spoke of the importance of collaboration and transparency when implementing new software. “Taking a proactive/transparent approach to a child’s bus not only gives parents peace of mind but also pro- motes open communication between schools, parents, and transportation staff,” he said. “Additionally, having access to such information fosters a sense of com- munity and collaboration with school transportation
64 School Transportation News • MARCH 2025
student participation is needed with student ridership tracking, to be successful, which includes students keep- ing track of their ID cards or there could be issues with a parent trying to time routes instead of arriving early at bus stops. “The downside is sending change information when changes may occur frequently, parents use that infor- mation against us by being able to show proof of lack of drivers and/or daily changes making transportation seem ineffective when they are trying to set a schedule,” he explained. “We certainly want to get the job done in a timely fashion but there are times when things are out of our control and our best effort falls short.” School Bus Logistics’ Jacobus echoed this sentiment. “The challenge is that many families don’t fully utilize the technology, so the more it’s used, the more accu- rate and useful the data will become,” he said. “I often see school districts planning routes based on all eligible students, but planning routes for actual riders offers significant benefits. It leads to better efficiencies and improved on-time performance. If a school district has a software partner that provides both route planning tools and ridership tracking, they should make the most of ad- ditional training and share success stories to help others learn and improve.” Guilderland’s Lipps concluded, “When you got the right tools, the teamwork’s even stronger.” ●
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