Presented by Zum
It’s essential that school districts and student transportation providers ensure all children have a safe, reliable, and efficient ride to and from school — a ride that addresses the unique needs of each student and family.
Today, routing software is critical to plan, manage, and optimize transportation at scale. However, routing software alone is not enough to deliver a best-in-class experience in student transportation. School districts deserve access to an end-to-end platform that seamlessly connects all stakeholders, including students, families, drivers, school and district administrators, and operators to deliver enhanced safety and efficiency and a best-in-class experience for all.
“The reality is, not every student rides the same bus route every day of the year. Route optimization allows school districts and student transportation providers to accommodate the unique needs of each student, address routing changes throughout the year, as well as last minute changes to seamlessly manage daily operations” said Abhishek Garg, Chief Technology Officer of Zum. “Routing software, powered by AI, allows for flexibility and customization, and improves the overall school bus experience for everyone to stay informed at every step. Everything is digitized to meet the transportation needs of families and schools in a single platform.”
A modern school bus routing system
Every student, parent, bus driver, bus router, and school administrator deserves the best transportation available. School bus routing software should be flexible to manage daily operations while improving efficiency and communication for all.
A modern, AI-powered school bus routing system includes:
• Routes that are optimized to enhance safety, efficiency, and reduce student ride time
• Route management tools that make it easy to add/change bus routes and/or stop locations to alter routes as needed and schedule changes while eliminating errors
• Better routing for students with changing schedules and/or multiple guardians, addresses, or programs
• A dashboard that flags any routing issues, changes in student data, or actions that need to be taken to ensure safe, reliable service
• A streamlined app/portal that allows parents to track their child’s bus in real-time with accurate ETA information and timely notifications
Powerful features to meet each district’s unique needs
A modern school bus routing system, powered by AI, provides the tools to configure routing parameters, seamlessly manage daily operations, and delivers real-time data and insights.
• Real-time data with accurate ETAs increases efficiency across the system, allowing operations teams and schools to monitor service quality and on-time performance
• Fleet optimization tools maximize vehicle and driver utilization and enable operations to easily manage last-minute changes to a route, schedule, or driver assignment
• Boundary search and reporting tools allow teams to model scenarios directly on a map to instantly visualize stop, student, and campus data, and provide insights for quicker, data-driven decisions
• Stop management tools allow teams to view all bus stops on an interactive map to consolidate stops, overlay routes and boundaries, view unassigned students, and more
• Map management tools give routers precise control, allowing them to create addresses that are not available in standard mapping services, designate restricted streets, and/or define school attendance and eligibility boundaries
“Zum’s Boundary Search feature allowed our transportation team to quickly identify additional routes we would need if the district changed school enrollments,” said Ken Martinez, Director of Transportation, Salt Lake City School District. “We analyzed current student locations, visualized stop assignments and overlaid existing routes to determine service gaps. The feature gave us a solid foundation for decision-making — and saved us a lot of time.”
Route optimization shortens student commute times, saves districts money, and allows administrators to seamlessly manage changes and daily operations. Most importantly, it ensures students experience a safe, reliable ride to and from school, which in turn prepares each child for success in the classroom each day.