The city of Columbus, Ohio, has the complex task of bussing more than 52,000 students to school on 796 school buses every day. Starting soon, the city will utilize transportation-management software to aid in daily operations.
The solution, called Versatrans by Tyler Technologies of Dallas, Texas, provides route building tools, fleet maintenance management, GPS data collection, and more, including ‘what-if’ scenario-planning.
“The planning side of the Versatrans product allows the district to plan out optimal individual school populations based on neighborhoods increasing or decreasing in size,” said James Guzewich, President of Tyler Technologies’ Versatrans School Solution. “Our system enables them to determine where to shift students to maximize efficient use of facilities.”
Most importantly, at least as far as Columbus is concerned, the product maximizes efficiency by taking into account the customers, and where they live. That enables districts to determine the correct amount of buses, the most efficient bus routes, and where to put the bus stops along the route. “Precise routes create timely delivery of students and decreased fuel costs,” points out Guzewich.
An additional web-based tool, Triptracker, allows administrators and teachers to cut paperwork and to book requests for special bus use such as field trips and athletic events.
For more information, check out the original announcement regarding the Columbus schools. Details on Versatrans can be found here.
Tyler Technologies is not the only company that offers student transportation management software. BusTracks from Advanced Management Software; TransFinder; EduLog; BusBoss; and DolphinFleet are just some of the other companies with similar offerings.