SPECIAL REPORT
Changing, Correcting Bell Times Can Have Positive Effect on Routing
Written by Mark Rowh T
here may be no perfect solutions when it comes to routing. As can be painfully clear to all concerned, the narrow timeframes for morning and afternoon operations leave little
margin for error. At the same time, requirements such as serving students with special needs add another degree of difficulty, all amid a school bus driver shortage. For some school districts, changing bell times has
brought greater efficiency to the routing process. That’s the path taken by Prince George’s County Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in Maryland, where until this year transportation staff were faced with 13 different bell times in the morning and 17 in the afternoon. “This made routing complicated and directly impacted the timely arrival of students to schools,” said Keba Bald- win, director of transportation and central garage. But now, the district has moved to three standard bell times, and the results have been positive. “Changes in bell times have helped to improve transportation by sim- plifying route planning and improving route efficiency,” Baldwin noted. Improvements include balancing the distribution of trips, reducing delays and making optimum use of buses
26 School Transportation News • OCTOBER 2024
and drivers. District officials also feel standardization across bell times makes schedules clearer and easier for families to understand. For Tacoma Public Schools in Washington state, a change in this year’s bell times is also expected to have a major impact. “We’ve shifted our secondary schools, with middle school now starting first,” said Zachary Midles, director of transportation. “We have also tiered our elementary schools to have two start times versus one.” The primary goal was to improve the ability of trans-
portation staff to manage expectations for on-time arrival. “We’ve attempted to improve efficiency with less resources,” Midles added. “This has involved numerous hours of planning and mapping out our process.” Prospects for attaining that improvement seem
promising, as district officials anticipate saving about $1 million a year following implementation of the new schedule. “This is due to a reduction in overhead in routes, leading to less fuel and driver pay,” Midles explained. “We also plan to reduce the length of some routes with this strategy, which will also be a savings.”
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
