School Transportation Services Archives

How To Start A Student Transportation Business

Posted on May 28, 2019 by TSB Super Admin

In today’s world, parents struggle to find a balance between the conflicting schedules of their children and their own. A child’s daily schedule might include being picked and dropped from pre-school.

Later in the day, the child might need to go for extra activities like Sports, arts or language classes. The different timings and locations make it hard for busy parents to pick and drop them from school and from the other varied activities.

A solution to this wide-spread problem would be a trusted and viable source of transport which would reach the children to various places at the right times and bring them back home safely.

This type of service would be of great help to working parents who cannot take time off to take their children around.

1. Business Plan

Starting a children’s transport business is like running any other business. The business involves more than picking up and dropping children.

The key to success lies in marketing the idea and finding the right users. A research will reveal the markets that can be tapped for business.

The idea or motive behind starting a business should be the lifeline of the business. In children’s transportation business is customer and service driven.

A service that offers something different, from what the specific or similar industry do, will make it stand apart.

A plan detailing what ages and areas are to be served, hours of operation, fee structure, finances have to be drawn. A well written business plan will serve as a reference for future checks throughout the year.

Structure of the business will depend on whether it is a partnership or sole proprietorship. Once the structure is finalized local and state licenses, tax identification numbers and other legal requirements have to be applied for.

Sufficient capital is required to pay expenses until the business becomes profitable. These funds come from own savings, friends or private investors. Bank loans can be availed to start the business.

When executing you enter the market in a low or medium key. It can be further expanded depending on the response.

Workspace can be one’s home or space shared with another business or a leased office. Customer is the key to any business.

2. Objective

The objective of a transportation business catering to children should be to provide a safe and convenient method of transportation. It should be licensed, reliable and available to parents at reasonable prices.

The aim of the business is service. The children’s transportation business is service driven offering maximum satisfaction to customers. The priority is to become a trusted source for parents to rely on.

3. Market

Children’s transportation service is required and highly essential for any child activity that does not have its own form of transport.

Day-care facilities, pre-school, activity centers, recreational arena that do not provide transport facilities can be targeted for business.

Periodical agreements with them will assure a minimum number of children availing this service.

The market should be focused on the middle class working parents, both single and dual. This segment of the population is found to be the most active and so are their children.

The working parents are interested in activities to keep their children occupied. Their children avail day-care services summer schools and sports activities.

Households with children under the age of 18 have to be targeted. The Organizational focus should be on children. Their safety and welfare should be the priority.

Densely populated residential areas which are in proximity to the day cares or activity centers can be identified as the area of operation. A specified radius in kilometers can be fixed within which the transport can be used.

4. Promotion

Formal introduction letters giving an explanation of the services provided are to be mailed. A request to respond if interested is to be included.

The letters can be sent to households in the vicinity identified for operation. They can be sent to day-care owners, pre-schools, recreational activity centers.

The brochure must include operational information required by the clients. It should include the features and benefits of using the service.

Rules and regulations, hours and rates should also be mentioned in detail. Description of your qualifications, the process of selection of drivers, reliability and safety of vehicles can be mentioned.

Advertisements can be inserted in the local publications. As a part of personal selling, parents and schools in the community can be made aware of the existence of the intended service.

Creating special offers for the first time users and repeat customers can ensure customer loyalty.

5. Vehicle Selection

The type and size of the vehicle needed is to be decided initially. Mini-vans are easy to maneuver in traffic but the number of seats may be limited. Small buses require special operating licenses but can carry more passengers.

Mini-vans which meet the federal safety standards are a good option to ply in populated areas.

Child safety features of seat belts, safety locks, shoulder harnesses and dual airbags are a must and should be provided in the vans.

Stringent maintenance schedules have to be adhered to ensure that the vehicles are safe and reliable to travel.

GPS units and radio communication equipment in the vehicle would be an added advantage. If special needs children are served handicap capable vehicles would be needed.

6. Staff

Every business has two main aspects. One is the customer and the other the employee. If attractive benefits are offered to employees they will take care of the customers.

If interesting options are provided to customers they will use the service which leads to increase in profits.

If the business has to run smoothly, dedicated employees should be hired. Hiring good people will increase productivity.

They will cause less trouble. It is important that they are paid on time, appreciated in public and reprimanded in private.

In a children’s transportation business the driver is the main employee. He is the one in constant interaction with the children, their parents and the owners of the business. So hiring competent drivers is the first step to ensure success.

Drivers with a valid chauffeur’s driving license are to be recruited. A background check has to be done. They should have had previous driving experience withexcellent track records.

They must have a First aid and CPR certificate. They must be genuinely interested in the care and welfare of children.

Other employees too should be chosen carefully as they are the ones who talk to customers. They should be easily available and should make the customer feel important. They should be capable to respond to requests as soon as possible.

Employee training and monitoring are very critical to providing an excellent service to customers. Background checks are done for all employees. All employees have to be trained in customer service and office procedures.

Drivers need to work with parents while establishing routes. They have to keep a detailed record of pick-ups and drop-offs. A time log, records of distance and fuel consumption are essential.

They have to have good time management to be punctual at all times. They have to be patient with children. They should be able to handle the pressure of traffic outside and also the screaming and noisy kids inside the vehicle.

Periodic feedback from the users is to be sought to ensure that the service is to the satisfaction of the customer. Any shortcomings need to be addressed with minimal delays.

Checking constantly or on a daily basis with the drivers and employees on what they require to perform better is essential. Resources have to be provided so that they can to do their job most effectively.

7. Vehicle Utilization

The vehicles can be utilized to transport children during the peak times – early morning 7-8am, mid-afternoon 11-12 and evening 3-5pm. Routes can be charted taking into account the number of children and destinations.

During non-peak hours administrative and marketing work can be done. The vehicles can be used to run emergency trips to clinics with sick children or for prior appointments.

8. Fee Structure

Rate schedules should be handed over to parents once they have enrolled their ward for the service. Detailed rates for scheduled and un-scheduled one-way trips and round trips and for extra miles have to be shown on the rate schedule. Any discounts for siblings and incentives of extra rides have to be mentioned.

Fees should be taken in advance. Payment can be made in cash or by cheque. Credit cards can be accepted if required.

9. Operating Expenses

A detailed record of day to day expenses has to be maintained. A competent accountant can keep track of the progress and problems of the business in real time.

In addition to the wages of the staff, the budget should include the cost of maintenance of the vehicle, regular cleaning charges of vehicles and fuel costs.

10. Special Requirement

Some states stipulate other requirements to operate in their areas.

Safety concerns require photo identities of the children. The necessary equipment and camera to create the ID cards will be required.

Liability insurance to cover vehicles, employees and passengers are required.

A thorough screening for drugs and background check for all employees including drivers have to be done.

Fingerprint clearance is required by many states if working with children. This is to ensure that the employees are not a threat to the safety of the children.

The business allows the advantage of being your own boss. The service offered is highly needed and appreciated. The business is ideal for at-home parents and those who love children or special needs children.

The business can be expanded if required. At the beginning it would be advisable to concentrate on hiring the right people. Later on, when a good customer base has been formed and goodwill is attained, professionals can be hired and advanced technology can be used to manage the business.

The adverse factors are driving in bad weather, high insurance rates and distractions from boisterous children.

A friendly and efficient child transportation system will offer parents the comfort of knowing that their children are in the best hands.

9 Ways To Reduce School Bus Transportation Costs

Posted on April 24, 2019 by TSB Super Admin

Schools and school districts are constantly on the look-out to reduce operational costs wherever possible. The reduced budgets given to schools prompt them to cut costs in areas that do not directly affect classroom studies. School Bus transportation costs thus become a target when school administrations seek to curtail their expenses.

Bus transportation costs depend on the age of the fleet, wages, maintenance expenditure,fuel-consumption, insurance charges. This comprises of 80% of the total cost.Capital costs include purchase cost of new vehicles and cost of fleet replacement. Operating a school bus fleet at optimal efficiency has a direct impact on the costs saved.

Methods to reduce school bus transportation costs

1. Reducing the number of buses

Operating a fleet of school buses is expensive. The best method to reduce costs is to reduce the number of buses in operation. Trimming the fleet automatically decreases driver wages, fuel consumption, wear and tear of vehicles etc. These factors contribute enormously in saving costs.

School-Transport-Software--Ensure-enhanced-student-safety

Efficient route management is the most practical way to lower costs without hampering the quality of service provided.The best model in cost-cutting serves to get students to school efficiently while optimizing transport times.

2. Route management

Transporting pupils to schools is a complex matter. Technological advances have helped school administrators tackle the issue with considerable ease. Software systems are used to develop bus routes. Some schools still do the route mapping manually.

Schools have to periodically review their bus routes in terms of the actual number of students using the bus and the total time utilized. Simple adjustments to the previous year’s routes will not help in lowering operational costs.

School administrators cut backs on stops and routes to stay within the budget. Minor changes in operations like minimizing trips and routes, often result in great advantages.

3. Trip planning

The number of students at each bus-stop, stop locations and bus capacities has a direct impact on the charting of bus routes. Minimizing the number of trips minimizes the number of buses required.

Trips can be linked together on a single bus route if school start and finish timings are altered slightly. The elementary, middle and high school start and dismissal times are fixed to fall within a certain time slot.

Then it becomes possible to link more trips together on a single bus. This decreases the number of buses required in total. The optimal combination of alternate bell timings and trips results in saving costs and increasing efficiency.

4. Route planning

A method used to increase operational efficiency is route planning. A single route is designed for children of different schools in a school district. Trips of different schools are combined to form one route.

A single bus is assigned to this specific route. This reduces the time the buses run without students on board as well as the number of buses on each route. Each route becomes longer but serves more trips on one single route.

This minimizes the number of routes resulting in lower operational costs. Pollution caused by diesel exhaust fumes is reduced to a large extent. This model is viable where schools fall under the purview of one governing authority and the services of a centralized bus company is utilized. Private schools which own their own buses might not be open to this model.

5. Walking School Bus

‘Walking School Bus’ is a new concept which has been adopted by neighborhoods in the US. When rerouting to optimize costs, some of the routes closer to the schools get eliminated. In such cases, students along those routes group together and walk to school under the supervision of an adult.

The parents and children like the idea of walking as it is healthy. Students feel energetic and fresher. Most often students get to school quicker as school buses normally take more time picking up children on their routes.

These students can either walk or bike to school. This enables students staying further away, disabled or otherwise-able students to avail bus services .Student safe zones have to be ensured.

6. Alternative fuel vehicles

States and cities in the US spend roughly $15 million annually transporting children to school. Diesel, that powers most of the buses, is now very expensive.

Governmental regulations on cutting down the pollution, forces one to adopt alternative fuel sources for running vehicles. Propane, CNG and Electric vehicles are available options. Hybrid diesel-electric vehicles, though expensive, are used by some schools.

Cost of vehicles running on alternative fuel is high as compared to the cost of diesel engine vehicles. There is a significant reduction in fuel costs. Air pollution due to diesel exhaust fumes is drastically reduced leaving lesser carbon footprint. Better utilization of the buses can make it viable in the long run.

The buses in the existing fleet can be retrofitted with alternative fuel engines. This can help reduce the initial capital expenditure. When deciding to retrofit, the age of the vehicle has to be taken into account,to gain maximum benefit.

7. Maintenance cost

Regular maintenance is needed to keep the buses safe on the road. Less number of school buses on the road means lesser maintenance of vehicles. Savings on parts, supplies and labor is considerable when the number of buses is minimal.

A maintenance program that can extend the life of buses is essential.Periodical regular maintenance and scheduled preventive maintenance will reduce the incidence of unexpected breakdowns and the costs associated.

Schools and transport companies need to have policies on disposal of buses that cannot serve efficiently.

8. Staff expenses

A reduction in the number of buses will require less number of staff to man them. The reduced number of drivers brings about a huge saving in wages. Efficient routing and time management will reduce overtime costs.

Fleet management software provides real-time feedback and comprehensive reporting enabling safe and efficient pupil transportation.

Using digital software systems for routing, GPS systems for locations, RFID readers for bus attendance; CCTV to monitor bus discipline reduces the need for administrators handling these functions manually.

The one-time capital expenditure to install the technology and equipment required will considerably save on otherwise recurring expenses.

9. Down-side of cost reduction

Re-routing and elimination of routes will leave a good number of students without transport. Cutting bus routes without proper plans regarding student safety will cause adverse effects.

When bus stops or routes are eliminated parents react with anger. They are concerned about the dangers involved when their wards walk or cycle to school. Parents then opt to drop them to school in their cars.

About36 cars are needed to transport an equivalent bus-load of students. This proportionately increases traffic congestion and corresponding air pollution on the roads.

The incidence of accidents is higher among cars increasing the risk of safety. School buses meet with fewer accidents. Their big sizes allow them to withstand damage better on an impact. School buses are considered to be 13 times safer than cars.

School buses in the US alone transport 25 million students, travelling distances of approximately 4 billion miles each year. Decreasing school budgets and rising fuel prices necessitates minimizing school bus operational costs.

It is worth the effort to stream-line the operations to ensure safer transportation of students at minimal costs to the school.

School Students Using Public Transportation – Pros and Cons

Posted on December 24, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

The decision to send our kids through public transportation (buses/trains) is, at the outset, a simple one. Most parents would, if they had infinite time and money, choose to drop them off themselves.

Sadly though, this is not the case for a large majority. With limited time and money, juggling responsibilities, they do a cost-benefit analysis. Interestingly enough, these are not the only reasons why the decision is taken.

While the alternatives to public transportation include the children cycling or walking to schools themselves, we will be primarily concerned with private cars (including carpooling) as the choice of public transportation, by default, assuming that there is some distance to be covered to reach the school.

Pros of Using Public Transportation

Minimum ambiguity, Maximum discipline

There won’t be any last minute dashes due to a parent’s hectic schedule. There is a scheduled stop at a scheduled time and the child needs to be there.

If the child doesn’t reach the stop on time, he/she will have to wait for the next bus. Through trial and error, the child knows for certain which bus she needs to catch.

A Multitude of Choices

The child has several choices for spending his/her time. From enjoying the solitude to making friends and spending time with them, to spending time reading or studying, the child makes the time of his/her own.

A Question of Friendship

Studies have shown that the adults who have close long-term friendships do better than their less social counterparts. This is especially important as the age when the child is attending middle school and/or high school is when intimate friendships are most often born.

Public transportation provides space for socialization and making friends with other children through frequent and regular interactions.

A Dollar Saved is a Dollar Earned

Several families have significant financial constraints. Public transportation is a (relatively) safe option for them to send their kids to school. This becomes even more important if their neighbours are sending their kids to the same school through the same means.

Stronger, Faster, Fitter

While this can’t be compared to children walking or cycling to school, children who travel to school via some mode of public transportation are fitter. This is shown through studies which reveal that public transit users, on average, take 30% more steps per day.

A Question of Responsibility

Children who use public transport to go to school tend to become more independent and responsible at an earlier age than their peers. While public transportation may lead to nervousness among the parents, this quickly disappears as the child learns and demonstrates responsibility.

A Benefit to Society

Apart from the increased car traffic and pollution and all the negatives that go with it, it has been seen that children who use public transit systems to get to school develop a healthy appreciation for public transport facilities.

And they have a greater tendency to use as well as support its use through adulthood. This is especially important to those areas where the public transport system is weak and needs to be strengthened.

Cons of Using Public Transportation

Safety – The Primary Concern

While there are several benefits to public transportation, it cannot be denied that there is one area where private transport trumps it; by a fair way.

And this, in the opinion of many parents, is their single most important concern. This is especially true in difficult neighbourhoods. And while using public transit is certainly safer than walking to school, it doesn’t beat the family car in this respect.

Harassment and Negative Experiences

Closely related to the above mentioned one, avoiding being bullied or harassed – and not having a proper channel to address it is an important factor for parents in choosing not to send their child through public transportation.

Children may also get traumatised by events they are not part of, but simply witness. Given these circumstances, in areas where public transportation is the only option, parents may choose to send their children to a suboptimal school as a result.

Sharing is Caring

The primary reason for preferring private transportation to public transportation is that of safety. Parents often compromise due to the difficulty in taking children to their school amidst their own hectic schedules.

This is true especially when both parents are working. This can be mitigated by carpools, where parents of different children alternate the responsibility of taking them to school.

The Hour Expands

Taking public transportation inevitably means that the child needs to spend more time in transit. From walking to their stop to wait for the bus to the longer routes (that have to be) taken by the bus; and back again while returning home.

This is more prominently seen for high schools, which are generally further away. This is a concern both with respect to time as well as safety.

Discomfort and Overcrowding

Most schools start and end around the same time. So, when a bus comes along, it is possible that it may be overcrowded. And this makes for a negative experience for the child, which they may not be able to handle. This effect is even more prominent while returning home.

Differing Standards

A study indicated that among children between the ages of 9 and 13, only 6% play outside a given week. At a time when parents are overprotective about their children, can we reasonably expect the children to be able to handle themselves in public settings?

With unfamiliar people? In a crowd? And then there’s the question of personality. Do they get anxious? Under difficult circumstances, will they be able to call the parent and communicate with them?

So there you have it. Why you should rely on public transportation for your children’s school travel. And why you shouldn’t. Priorities and personal preferences play a big role. But we hope this will help you make a more considered decision.

Benefits of Using School Bus Contractor (Reasons Included)

Posted on December 14, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

In many school districts, outsourcing of school transportation to private contractors has been found to be working very well. Control over school bus contractors is maintained by clearly specifying the terms in the agreement.

School administrations that have contracted school transportation to private parties have been able to focus more on their core function which is education.

Read Also : How to Manage School Transport Effectively

There are many reasons as to why school administrations consider arranging contracted transportation for students. They include:

Aging of the fleet being operated by schools and non-availability of funds to upgrade the fleet.
Regulations related to new equipment, safety, and environmental innovations make it necessary to acquire new buses, but it may not be possible for the district to keep changing the fleet rapidly.
Over time, the increase in transportation costs has outpaced funding.
Economies of scale may not be available always and costs may be out of line even for similar districts.
System inefficiencies have often contributed to stretching of resources and difficulties in scheduling.
State, federal, or administrative changes and unexpected extra responsibilities such as redistricting, parental choice rights, and interdistrict magnet school additions, among others, pose challenges to the system.
Administrative headaches such as dealing with parents, drug/alcohol testing, employee absenteeism, and mandated paperwork call for the investment of a great deal of time and attention.

Benefits of Using a School Bus Contractor

Outsourcing of school bus transportation work to private contractors helps to all of the problems listed. Therefore, outsourcing offers several benefits:
The primary focus of private contractors is pupil transportation. It is their main business. They will ensure that the school bus service they provide is efficient and cost-effective.

This is the only way they can benefit from their business. Of course, they have to ensure the highest levels of reliability and safety as they are transporting students to and from school. The expertise of schools is in imparting education, while that of private school bus operators is providing transportation.
Contracting enables schools to avoid issues associated with finding funds for making capital investments.

This is because the contractors are responsible for upgrading or replacing the aging buses with new ones. Further, the contract bus operators are responsible for maintaining the fleet in top operating condition.
Schools can exercise better control over transportation costs and predict the expenses accurately throughout the terms of the contract. This, in turn, protects the wages and benefits of current employees.
Contractors have proven expertise and experience in planning, scheduling, and routing and this helps them to provide efficient service at lower costs. Moreover, they are better equipped to benefit from economies of scale, shared facilities, coordinated services, and dedicated personnel.
Schools can free themselves from management headaches such as driver absenteeism, discipline, drug testing, and statutory compliance, among many others.
Private school bus operators are expected to maintain the safety standards of their fleet and satisfy training requirements of their drivers as stipulated by law. Many schools are able to provide only a minimum amount of training often because of resource constraints.
Schools are under a lot of pressure to ensure competitiveness and achieve economic benefits for their survival. Statistics reveal that contracting the student transportation responsibility to private contractors helps schools save, on average, anywhere from 10 to 30 percent on their expenditure.
Parents are often busy, especially if both of them are employed. They will be very happy if the school bus service being used by their children is reliable, efficient and safe.

It helps them to keep the worry of their children going to and coming back from school on a daily basis. A reliable school bus contractor can be a great help for parents. If the parents are happy and healthy, the students will also be happy and healthy.
Schools that engage experienced, trusted and market-leading private contractors for providing school bus service are actually making it clear to existing and prospective parents that they are committed to delivering first-class and safe student services.
Schools that choose to provide school transport services through contractors are actually contributing to the community's wellbeing by reducing congestion and emissions, improving road safety around schools at the pick-up and drop-off times, and lowering fuel consumption and valuable natural resources.

Final Thoughts

Schools that have engaged private transportation operations have been able to save a lot of money every year. They have utilized the money saved in enhancing their educational programs and prevent teacher layoffs.

How to Manage School Transport Effectively

Posted on November 14, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

A majority of schools have large fleets of buses that ferry children to and from schools every day. These buses ensure safety for the children. Safety is a major point of concern not only for the parents but for the school authorities as well.

In addition to the quality of education that a school provides, the transportation facilities provided by the school for the safety of their students is a major factor that parents look for when choosing a school for their ward(s).

Given below are few important points which can be practised by the school authorities to manage the school transportation in an effective manner.

1: Manage Routes

It would do best for the school transport department to assign time-saving bus routes in an optimized manner so that it means cost saving in terms of less fuel expenditure.

This activity has to be carefully planned out in such a manner that multiple vehicles of the fleet do not share the same route, do not overlap, or cause any kind of confusion whatsoever. Such a happening would lead to a waste of resources.

2: Bus Station Allocation

This is yet another challenging aspect of managing the school bus fleet. The school transport department has to create bus stops from where the students can be picked up or dropped off. However, a lot of care has to be taken while deciding the location of these bus stops.

They should be at a convenient spot so that students can reach the bus stop without any difficulty. Secondly, the stops should be in locations that are safe enough for the students to wait till their respective bus comes.

The bus stop location cannot be fixed at spots with heavy traffic as it turns out to be inconvenient and unsafe for both parents and children.

3: Accurate bus timings

Managing the timings of the buses in the fleet is a very important aspect. The bus routes are primarily decided based on the availability of the vehicles in the fleet.

When the routes are allocated, then check the timings of the buses which also includes some buffer time kept aside for any unforeseen delays such as breakdowns, traffic blocks, etc. The buses of the fleet are allocated timing in such a way that only the time required for the travel along the route is allowed for them.

4: Appropriate Fee Structures

Running a fleet of buses is a major cost incurred for the school. The fee structure should be decided on the basis of the running times of the bus and the routes that are traversed.

Other variables to be factored in include the salary of the bus staff, maintenance costs, fuel costs and a facility fee. The fee amounts would be different for different routes that the bus takes and depends on the distance of the bus stops from the school.

5: Allocate Appropriate Routes for Staffs and Students

Firstly, it should be borne in the mind that the student-teacher ratio should be maintained appropriately in each of the buses. The authorities should assign at least two or three teachers per bus.

One of the teachers should necessarily be present in the bus till the end of the route or until the last child in the bus gets off. This ensures the safety of the children travelling in the bus.

6: School Bus Attendance

The attendance roll call for students travelling by each bus should be done every time bus leaves the school and before the bus reaches the school after the trip completes.

This ensures that the authorities are keeping track of the students. It ensures safety and no slipups whatsoever. Any untoward happening on the bus can be spotted immediately by the authorities.

7: Student Safety

It is most important that the authorities take complete responsibility to ensure safety for those travelling in the bus.
•    Appointing the right driver and bus attendant whose records are clean
•    Maintaining the bus and all its accessories at regular intervals, ensuring that all parts are working
•    It is important to track that the driver’s behaviour on the bus

8: Fleet Tracking

Tracking school buses and occupants is one of the important things that a school should perform to manage school transportation effectively.

This helps the school authorities to take sudden action if any mishaps or any emergencies come during the trip. This in turn helps to tackle the issue without much stress.

Integrating the school transport management software with GPS allows you to get various reports including the wear and tear of the vehicle parts, speed reports, etc.

All these reports help to improve the efficiency of the bus fleet by organizing optimized routes that help to cut costs as well as ensure a safe trip for the students.

9: Video Surveillance

Video surveillance of the bus every time is essential. It helps school authorities to ensure that everything goes all right with the staff, driver, attendant and students at all times. Any bad behaviour on the part of the driver/staff/students can be stopped in the beginning itself.

10: Fleet Maintenance Software

Use of fleet maintenance software helps to track the vehicle downtimes, parts required, inventory status, expenditure, maintenance schedules, usage of fuel and replacement criteria. Tracking these helps to increase the efficiency and manage the school bus fleet more effectively.

Conclusion

Technology is revolutionizing every aspect of school bus fleet management and it is important that every school’s authorities gather sufficient information to make the most of this and ensure a safe trip to students along with managing it efficiently at the same time.

How to Choose the Right Software for Your School Transport Company

Posted on November 2, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

The safest way to transport students of your school would be to have a complete overview of your entire school transportation system at any point in time.

Budget cuts are happening everywhere, with the result that the transport department is forced to squeeze out the most from every dollar spent.

One of the most efficient ways to cut down fuel costs, staffing and to improve vehicle utilization is by optimization of routes.

However, this can be frustrating, time-consuming and inefficient if done manually. Using software packages for school transport is the best way to get this done neatly and efficiently.

How School Transport Software Package is Useful

From creating the school bus routes, scheduling the drivers, and managing unforeseen incidents, the software package for school bus transport must be in tune with the requirements of the school. Any school transportation management software would address the following objectives:

1: Features that make every-day time-consuming tasks easier

• Allowing easy preparation of trips with auto optimized routes

• It should be able to manage the presence of students in each stage of the bus trip

• A few clicks should be enough to plan the rounds for a specific bus contract for a period of a range of dates

2: The activity would be visible immediately in real time

• The schedule would be accessible and readable in real time

• Changing the route of one driver to another would be a matter of just a couple of clicks

3: The software package would be in line with the objectives of the business

• The package should have tools that can help to manage both the drivers as well as the bus attendants

• It should help to plan the maintenance and renewal of the bus fleet

• It should give the difference between the monthly projected turnover of the bus and the actuals easily

But while choosing the right software for your school transport company, you must consider certain things as now the market place have flooded with many school bus transportation software kits with various packages. Here we are showcasing certain key things you must take care of.

1: Compatibility with other software

The routing and transportation management software will operate optimally when it is compatible with the other existing programs in your system.

If the integration is good, there is a good possibility that you can derive a variety of reports from the package that will sure make your transport system management easy and efficient.

2: Features of the bus transport system software

The important features that your software package for transport management should possess are the distances to be plied, the route layouts and their complexities, the number of users, etc., among others.

Advanced packages have features that include a layout map of the areas to be covered, maps that can be edited to add new routes and stops, and travel restrictions. Some other features are:

• Assignment of bus stops to students (these are defined by the users)

• Accommodation of right-sided pick-up points

• Generation of bus passes

• Option for scheduling pick-up and drop-off points (alternate locations)

• Calendar facility

• Student-bus tour history for purpose of report generation

• Options to customize necessary things

3: Training and Support

Any transport management software package would work best only if you know how to use it effectively. For this, you selected package provider has to provide the required training so that it fits the requirements of your institution.

The software provider should provide training during the time the package is laid out and also beyond this period so that all issue can be sorted out and it can be made to function the way in which it should.

4: Type of software vendor

Rather than choosing a vendor that provides a generalized transportation management package, it is wiser to go for a single vendor that provides a customized end-to-end solution for your specific needs.

Though the former option may cost you less, you may end up making it more expensive if you want amends to be made for the package to suit your system. An end-to-end customized solution will function seamlessly.

5: Calendar-based routing and scheduling

A calendar-based bus schedule helps to organize a trip and allows for the creation of trips quickly, optimally and efficiently. You can edit the schedules with ease. You can even plan for what-if scenarios with efficiently structured advanced software packages.

6: GPS Tracking

Software packages with GPS tracking facility allow you to both track and monitor every bus of your school fleet. Additional information of student in a particular route can be facilitated in integrating RFID options and providing the students with tracking cards. This is precious information as far as the school authorities and parents are concerned.

7: Bus Driver Management

Efficient software programs will help to schedule trips based on drivers’ experience, seniority and expertise. Al trips can further be made to connect to payroll so that month-end salary pay-outs become easier. All these can help to improve retention rates of drivers over the longer term.

8: Management of Changes in Students’ Schedules

See if the software package allows for editing a student’s route to a new one. It should allow setting a student’s status as ‘on vacation’ if they want to stop the school bus transportation for a specific period of time.

9: Matching of Plan vs. Actual

Analysis of GPS data helps the drivers to follow routes that have already been designated. Drivers find it easier to follow the maps of planned routes rather than generic maps displayed by Google.

10: Students with Special Needs

Transportation for students with special needs stands improved by following optimized routes with minimum time on board and proves helpful for generating student data for student reimbursements.

11: Availability of the features on mobile phones

It is greatly convenient for the school authorities as well as parents to receive any notification/alert related to the transportation on mobile phones in real time.

The software package can be designed to send tracking and monitoring signals to servers which disseminates the information to mobile phones.

Facilities that users look out for in School Bus Transportation Management Software

• Easily input data regarding the pick-up and drop-off stations for the students

• Maintain details of all the buses (vehicle number, insurance, fuel details, etc.)

• Maintain details of all students such as contact details, pick-up and drop-off point, etc.

• SMS facility for parents if any change in scheduled routes or timings

• All data related to bus maintenance and insurance payments maintained

• Define bus charges and timings for students for pick-up and drop-off points

• Easy generation of reports

Conclusion

A software package which helps to manage all the sub-processes that are involved in student transportation through the school buses includes passenger tracking, route optimization, ease driver-parent-school communication, generate comprehensive reports, and facilitate real-time management of different parts of the transportation service. This will help to improve the savings and money control and will ensure student safety.

How to Install Car Seats In School Bus?

Posted on October 31, 2018 by TSB Super Admin

Drivers depend on car seats to keep babies safe. However, according to some experts, only 15% of the car seats are correctly installed guaranteeing the safety and protection of the child.

Before you start installing a car seat in the school bus, know the type of car seats you have. Is it a rear-facing car seat or a front-facing one? Next, take a look at its design to understand if it has to be fixed to the school bus’ seat belt, or the anchor belts attached to the car seat, or to both.

Let us look deeply onto it.

Installing a Rear-Facing Car Seats in School Bus

Step 1: The carrier and the base are two different parts and must be separated. You need to install the base as this is what will remain in the car.

Go through the manufacturer’s instructions to understand how the carrier can be removed from the base. Generally, this is done with the help of a lever or button placed at the base.

Step 2: Check for the belts attached to the base. Some car seats have a belt with two hooks that can latch onto the designated spots near the seat belt area of your vehicle. If these are the kind of belts in your car seat, snap the hooks onto the metal bars of your school bus’ seat.

Make sure the base is resting right against the seat. Tighten the anchor belt in case of a gap.
Check the instructional manual to ensure that this is the way the base has to be fixed.
Some car seats have another belt that needs to go through the car seat to secure the base and provide additional security.

ALTERNATIVELY,

If the car seat which you are going to install does not have an anchor belt with hooks, it will have a buckle to securely put through the school bus’ belt opening. The seatbelt must go through straight without any twists or turns.

Check the manual thoroughly to understand where the belt has to be attached in case of doubt.
Every school bus and every car seat is different and, therefore, the manufacturer’s manual must be referred to.
A car seat that is not properly latched can be dangerous since the child is at the risk of getting injured.

Step 3: Fix the infant carrier onto the base. The direction of the carrier must be such that the child is facing the rear side. When the base and carrier are correctly fitted, you must hear a click sound. You can practice placing and separating the carrier a couple of times to know how it’s done.

Step 4: Check the angle of the base. Rear-facing car seats can be adjusted to different angles. Young infants need a more reclined position as it helps them to breathe properly.

Car seat carriers have level indicators to help you understand which is right for your child. Read the level and check if this is right as per your child’s weight/age/height.
Alter the base angle if you feel your child is not comfortable.
Always change the angle as your child grows.

Installation a Front Facing Car Seats in School Bus

Step 1: Take the seat belt through the car seat. Front facing car seats have openings at the back or bottom through which a seat belt needs to pass.

This seat belt must be buckled into the school bus’ seat on the other side. Once the belt has passed through and you’ve buckled it, push it down and pull to ensure that it has locked well. Check that the belt is straight and there are no twists or bundling.

Step 2: Some car seat designs include an attached tether. This can be taken over the top of the vehicle’s seat to latch on the anchor behind the seat. If your car seat and vehicle’s seat both support this locking, attach the tether to the anchor and tighten.

ALTERNATIVELY,

If the tether is not attached, you need to use latches to secure the car seat. Check the bottom of the car seat for two buckles with hooks.

These should latch onto the designated spots of the school bus seat where the back and bottom join. Tighten the belt in a manner that the back of the car seat is snug against the back of the vehicle’s seat and the base is snug to the base.

Safety Guidelines

Proper installation of the car seat in school bus is not enough to ensure the safety of the child while traveling. There are a few other factors that you must keep in mind to ensure that the child remains uninjured on the school bus journey. Here’s what you must check:

Choose the right spot to fix the car seat. Child car seats should not be installed in the first few or last rows of the school bus. This is because these seats are unsafe and experience more jerks than the middle rows.
The seat must fit well according to the dimensions of your vehicle’s seat. At any point in time, the base of the car seat must not move more than 1 inch.
Pull and push your car seat in different directions after installation to check this movement and in case the car seat is moving a lot, do not place the child in it. Tighten the belts to first fix the car seat correctly.
Use the shoulder straps and lap harness to buckle the child into the seat. The child must not be left loosely in the seat. The chest clip must also be buckled properly.
Tighten all the belts to make sure that your child is safe and comfortable as well. Please ensure that none of the straps are twisted or bundled.

Keep the instructions manual handy to be sure that you have done everything correctly. Student safety in the car seat is in your hands and you must double check everything.

Driver Tips to Control Violence on School Buses

Posted on July 21, 2017 by TSB Super Admin

Children are always naughty and they become wild once they are accompanied with their pals. Just imagine a destination where everything becomes favourable for them. A school bus is certainly the ideal location for your child to unleash their mischief. There is comparatively less monitoring inside the school bus and hence, they utilize this freedom to the maximum.

But is there any way to curb their violence on the school bus? A school bus driver is the only one who can seriously initiate an effort on it. They can easily recognise the mischievous behaviour of each student before any parent or teacher.

Here follows certain school bus driver tips that assists you to control violence on the school buses:

Gain assistance of a bus monitor to identify and report children's problems which helps you manage the school bus properly and comfortably. Thus, violence can be prevented in the first place
Ensure that you are one of the members of the school bus safety planning program. This gives you an opportunity to inform others concerning the possible risks and behavioural issues faced in a school bus ride. School authorities never ignore your speculations on ensuring student safety as you have greater experience with school bus transportation than anyone
At first, go through appropriate training to understand student behavior, their poise, and body language. For example, clenched fists indicate that the child is angry or in a raging state and crouched stance is a preparation taken by them before running or dashing forth. At situations, you can immediately inform school management or transportation officials without much delay
Seek the permission of school bus fleet management authorities to assign front seats for the annoying students or the students who displays problem behavior. As a result of this special allotment, you will be able to attribute first class scrutiny on those students
Park the school bus to a safe area and tell other students to stay away from the combatants. If possible, calm the combatants by ordering them to stop fighting. But never leave your seat or move to the fighting area as it can be a mere students' ploy
Suppose, a student is holding a weapon in his or her hands, never provoke him or her and risk the safety of other students. Remain calm, never panic, and be watchful. Once you have a chance, park the school bus, call the dispatch or police officials, and handle the situation wisely, without acting as a hero by trying to disarm the student
If an intruder attempts to enter the school bus, never allow him to enter the school bus. For instance, hijackers may create paradoxical situations to mislead you such as faking an accident, calling for help, etc. Never give an opportunity to persuade or trap you

Is driver training enough?

Certainly, driver training is essential to ensure proper safety and security for school bus riders. But there are other resources that avoids violence in the school transportation environment. Do you have a presumption about it? A school bus management software helps the school transportation management to plan the routes in such a way that it avoids criminal presence or drug hot spots. Thanks to the technological innovation, as you are able to integrate threat zone database with the routing software, which keeps you up-to-date on new risks.

With the school bus GPS Tracking system, you can track the real-time location of each student and consequently, identify their wrong doings. In addition, parents and relevant authorities will instantly know whenever a driver deviates from the scheduled route, obtain information on the Expected Time of Arrival (ETA) of the school bus, and student tracking information.

Above all driver tips can be useful for managing the school bus effectively. The reputation of a school rests in a school bus. Hence, ironically, it is the driver's duty to maintain school bus discipline and protect the credibility of the public on school transportation services.

Trends in School Transportation Management

Posted on March 1, 2017 by TSB Super Admin

In the past few years, educational field has greatly been influenced by Information technology. School transportation management is an area where a number of IT companies focus on. Most of the entrepreneurs consider this as a good opportunity and thus, make innovative products to solve the school transportation issues.

Some of the key trends in school transportation management that can capture the attention in the coming years are as follows:

Recap:

9 Qualities of a Great School Bus Transportation System

Route Optimization

Now, it is not difficult for us to think about organizing school bus routes, bus stops and then, allocating students to their respective bus stops. One can automatically build optimized routes, resolve the most appropriate bus stops and match students to those stops based on their addresses.

School Bus Tracking

Now, people are more interested in keeping track of school buses during their movement. Many schools have started implementing the school bus tracking software for effective school transportation management.

The software helps transport managers to effectively manage fleet of buses, tackle emergency situations properly and create weekly reports regarding school transportation management.

School Bus Attendance

Due to working hours and tight schedules, parents will have great concern about their child's safety in transportation. In order to put a stop to this worry, schools have implemented software that provides instant notifications to parents whenever their child gets on or off the school bus.

With apps like driver console drivers are able to know whether any particular child is missing from the bus. The app will have details regarding each student and their assigned stops, which help the drivers to instantly recognize them. School management, thus guarantees a secure and risk-free transportation to students.

Tracking App for Parents

From morning to evening, parents will be worried about their child and eagerly wait for the school bus to arrive. When there are unfavourable weather conditions, the situation gets worse. School management can tackle such situations by providing an app that enables the the parents to track their child's school bus in real time and thus, reach the bus stop in time.

Once a child boards the school bus with tracking, parents are able to see the real-time location along with route which helps them to plan accordingly. They are also able to manage more than one child with a single app.

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School Bus Transportation: Is Bullying a Serious Concern?

Tracking App for Transport Managers

With the help of the transport manager app, transport managers are able to have exclusive control of the school bus. App avoids even minor possibilities of accidents or mishaps that can happen in the school transportation service.

Transport managers are able to communicate with the driver whenever they feel a need for that. Using the app, they are able to schedule school bus trips easily. New pick up points can be built and assigned. Also, it is possible to update if there are any bus stop relocations.

Tracking App for Bus Attendant

This app includes a complete attendance management system which helps to reduce attendance flaws. Manual way of collecting attendance is usually a tedious task and is prone to errors. Each and every minute detail is considered in the attendant app.

Drivers are able to instantly get notification, along with the contact details and a picture of the child. They get exact direction of the trip and the confirmed trip paves way to trip history.

Live camera feed

With the help of cameras, drivers obtain live camera feed of students inside the school bus. Drivers can view this feed via their own console. This helps them to save time, thereby adding comfort, convenience and safety.

Geofencing

Parents as well as school authorities can restrict the movement of school bus to a particular area. They will get instant notification if at all school bus enter the restricted area. Parents can also set their own boundary by using the geofencing feature of parent app and receive alerts when the school bus approaches near to their child's pick up point.

Manifest Feature

Produce routine school bus passenger details like pick up details, route diagram indicating pick up location, list of students present inside the bus etc. If a student applied leave on a particular day, his pick up details will not appear in that day's stop list in the app. This saves valuable time of the driver as well as the students by not having to stop at unnecessary points. It is a useful feature that is going to be a trendsetter in the future.

These are trends that have revolutionized the school transportation management. They not only help the new drivers to have better control of the school bus, but also give parents peace of mind. With the advent of various technologies, costs for fuel can also be significantly reduced with the facility of route optimization.

5 Quick Planning Tips for a Successful Field Trip

Posted on October 1, 2015 by TSB Super Admin

Field trips, the two magical words generate energy in your students and considerable nervousness in you. But perfect planning can help you tackle any possible difficulty during field trips.

Schools normally plan field trips on the school bus because they are confident about the safety that school transport service provides. With detailed planning along with some key steps, you can easily ensure enjoyable learning experiences for your students.

Just like school transport, enabling better safety during field trips also matters.

Read Must: How to Handle Emergencies? Tips for School Bus Drivers

5 quick tips to keep in mind while planning a field trip:

Rules and Regulations: Before planning the field trip, be sure about the existing field trip manual or policies. The whole trip becomes much smoother after familiarizing the current policies and procedures. Planning should be made without violating the rules set by government.
Safety: Safety must be the prime concern before scheduling the field trip. GPS tracker can help rescue the school bus if it gets lost. Teachers and school staff must be prepared for any startling accident(s) or incident(s) that may happen. Emergency contact data and any approved prescriptions should be brought to the field trip. Once the destination is fixed, arrange a meeting discussing about the precautions.
Supervision: Based on the number of students participating in the field trip, school staff should follow adult supervision strategy. Children belonging to Elementary, Middle and High School have different supervisory necessities that should be seriously taken into consideration.
Expenses: If you are organizing a field trip to a spot with fewer participants, fixing a far place can be quite expensive for each member. Pre-plan the hotels, search for hotels with discounts. Consider children belonging to low-income families while planning the trip, they do have certain limitations. Don’t involve children while planning the trip; it can create embracement for children belonging to low-income.
Confirm Details: Gather the details of the children participating in the field trip and confirm it. Be double sure that you have collected more than one contact number of each member participating in the event. It’s advisable to bring the parent of any member.

Read Also: 10 Steps Schools Must Take To Ensure School Bus Transportation Safety

More Tips:

Teachers must carry

First-aid kit
Contact Information
Attendance sheet
Cell phone
Students Identities

Don’t Ignore

Participant list with their contact number
Check the weather of the place in advance
Reconfirm accommodation details

Preparing others

Hold a meeting with the bus driver
Obtain parental permission
Prepare chaperones for their roles