The Best School Routing Software With AI Features in 2022
Effective transport management requires upfront planning. Many schools find balancing quality education and optimizing the transportation system challenging. Some school administrators and dispatchers settle for manual planning, creating inefficient and unsafe school transport models.
Schools can rely on advanced routing software with AI features to achieve high efficiency, unprecedented safety levels, and cost savings. Our one-stop fleet management solution offers fleet insights and visibility to optimize routing. Read on to find out why Forbes ranks TripSpark as the best school bus routing software of 2022.
Challenges of Planning School Bus Routes
The number of factors to consider when planning school bus routes make it challenging. Some of these factors include:
1. Student Safety
Every school wants to maintain the highest student safety standards. Traffic and speed limits are critical to safety on the road. Roads with low traffic and speed limits are usually safer. However, the street design and unprecedented events may make some stretches challenging to navigate and unsafe.
2. Punctuality
Students should get to their respective schools in time for the school day. The most efficient route may result in longer rides for some students and a shorter trip for others. It is also essential to consider the students’ average travel time.
3. Operational Costs
The main operational costs to consider include fuel and vehicle maintenance. Fuel cost fluctuates, and you often have unscheduled maintenance—proper planning and forecasting lower operating costs.
4. Student Pick-up and Drop-off Points
Choosing student pick-up and drop-off points are challenging when you have a large student population. Students should not walk long distances or through unsafe zones to the pickup point. The number of stops also affects the bus’s trip time. Optimizing routes, distances, and travel time is a complex operation.
5. Deadhead Time
It is expensive to have empty school buses on the road. You should track and limit the time and distance the drivers ride alone.
With all these variables, planning school bus routes become challenging and time-consuming. Many school districts have turned to school bus routing software for optimization. Some of the above variables are specific to routing software. Districts must choose a routing software specific to their challenges.
Why Choose K-12 Routing software with AI Features?
School route planning presents unique challenges that are not present in other routing types. An effective routing software should address such challenges adequately to optimize school transportation operations. K-12 routing software leverages artificial intelligence to offer an all-in-one fleet management solution for School Districts and Transportation Departments.
Route Planner
Schools lose a lot of money due to inefficient bus route planning. TripSpark helps you optimize bus routes based on distance, time, and capacity. It also updates bus routes in real-time to avoid traffic or accommodate new students.
Live GPS Tracking
Get live GPS location updates for each fleet bus every five seconds. Additionally, you can get the buses’ routes, speed, and mileage on one platform.
Fleet Management and Diagnostics
The feature lets you set maintenance alerts and reminders. You can also track maintenance history on one platform, including fluid refills, oil changes, and more. The software lets you read diagnostic information remotely to budget for repairs and maintenance.
Parent Mobile App
The parent app lets them track the bus their children are on in real-time. They also get alerts when the bus arrives or is running late, giving parents much-needed peace of mind when their kids are in transit.
Field Trip Management
The field trips feature allows transport managers to plan and manage school field trips from one location. Teachers can submit trip requests and get approval and facilitation seamlessly.
Timesheets
This feature lets you track and develop reports on driver hours and vehicles’ time on the road. You can monitor productivity and vehicle records to gain further insight to adjust your transport strategy. This feature also lets you download driver timesheets directly to your payroll software.
These features make fleet optimization easy to increase efficiency and safety while significantly lowering operational costs. Book a free demo to learn more about our routing software.
Contact us at 1-844-468-4239 today or click on the button below to request a Demo.