School bus transportation has seen tremendous technological advancement over the last few years. Today, software is available for the school bus fleet management, including scheduling, and also geographic information system to improve efficiency and tracking.
The main purpose of employing technology in school bus fleet management is to ensure student safety. This is because these systems enable route planning to improve efficiency and provide information in real-time on location and security threats.
Here are some of the key benefits that schools can enjoy using school bus scheduling software:
Improve Fleet Optimization
Manual scheduling of routes and times is a static procedure and it is one-dimensional in nature. Inconsistent school bus schedules tend to impact morning routines and results in frustrated parents calling the school for an update on arrival at the waiting point.
Inconsistency in tracking also leads to increased expenses. On the other hand, the use of right software helps schools easily overcome all these challenges.
Tracking software helps to analyze the bell times for students in different grades and tier the bus routes accordingly so that the late arrival of buses, calls from parents, and unnecessary spending can be avoided.
Tiering enables schools to use the same drivers and buses and this effectively reduces the requirement of buses and drivers by 50%. This, in turn, results in a reduction in overall transportation costs as well.
It is not easy to create effective tiered routes for school buses. Many scenarios have to be taken into consideration. However, the scheduling software allows for the creation of unlimited scenarios and study or review a number of hypothetical tiering schedules to ensure the optimal use of the school’s fleet of buses.
Makes Routing Easy
If the conditions remain ideal, schools can set the routes and use them every year. However, the reality is that the student population keeps expanding and costs continue to rise.
This means that school administrators must keep track of the routes and change them as required. Optimization of bus routes is the best way to reduce costs, minimize ride times, and ensure student safety.
This is best achieved by implementing the bus scheduling software. It may sound intimidating initially, but technological advances enable scheduling of school bus routes easy.
The software helps the school administration department to quickly analyze traffic pattern, route times, and student populations to ensure student safety.
The software also incorporates other functionalities. They make it possible for administrators to communicate with drivers and monitor the movement of school vehicles in real time.
When schedules need to be changed, school administrators will have to often put away other jobs and focus only on readjusting schedules.
The use of the bus scheduling software totally eliminates this problem. This is because the suitability of various alternative routes can be checked almost instantaneously, resulting in saving time and cost.
Update Drivers Quickly
Students move to new homes, and therefore, their pick up points change. The parents of a child may have split custody. The child may come to school by one bus but go back home on a different bus.
This child may also use different buses. In such cases, school bus drivers of respective routes should be informed of the same at the very next moment.
When the pickup point of a student changes, web access portals come to the aid of school bus drivers. The scheduling software provides drivers with daily updates before they start their work in the morning.
Reduce Costs
All schools experience problems with respect to balancing their budgets. When they face financial challenges, the first department to get the cut is the transportation department.
Parents become concerned when routes are changed and bus stops are eliminated. Fortunately, the scheduling software helps to optimize routes without compromising the safety of students.
The software helps to save money in the following ways:
Route Planning
School bus tracking software does away with the need to organize lengthy planning sessions. The routing job used to be completed only over a few days.
With this software, the job can now be completed in a matter of minutes. It also has special features which help to set parameters and designate zones when creating routes that are safe and efficient.
Maximizing Efficiency
Efficient routes reduce the fuel requirement and driver downtime. School bus scheduling and tracking software helps to identify the routes that rationalize the stops.
It also enhances student safety as it identifies routes that avoid areas with a high level of traffic. Rationalization of the routes also helps to minimize driver and bus requirement.
Integration
Advanced school bus scheduling software is available now and can be integrated with many other tools such as GPS systems.
These integrations, in turn, enhance the capability of the school bus scheduling software and help develop more efficient routes, identify inconsistencies, and track ridership. Elimination of inconsistencies further leads to a reduction in wasteful expenditure.
Conclusion
Investing in school bus tracking software often tends to save money in many indirect ways as well. For instance, the use of safer and more efficient routes helps schools to cut down insurance costs. When the software is integrated with tracking programs, reporting becomes much easier and this adds to the cost benefits.
