A GIS-based transportation solution for efficient school bus routing

DISPATCH/GISTM is a Geographic Information System (GIS) student transportation routing and scheduling system. The system determines the transportation eligibility of students, establishes optimal bus routes and schedules, and assigns students to routes consistent with District policies. DISPATCH/GIS automatically maximizes vehicle loads while minimizing time and distance traveled. Bus routes are designed for multiple trips in consideration of school bell times so that vehicle requirements are kept as low as possible.



Integrated transportation and planning

DISPATCH/GIS and ONPASS® are integrated systems. ONPASS is the MasterPlan suite boundary planning student demographic software. The two systems share many of the same files so that file creation and maintenance are not duplicated. Students, streets and school databases are all shared between the two applications. A seamless desktop exists to allow switching between applications. The program will evaluate the impact of transportation routes on simulated attendance boundary changes, school closing and opening, school capacity changes and walking distance policies. The system accurately reflects current transportation policies and allows for the update of these parameters. It is capable of defining transportation policies by school, grade level or programs.

Maps and driver directions

“DISPATCH helped our school district reduce the number of bus routes we need to run each day, which has resulted in a financial savings for the school district. It makes us a more efficient department and helps us make the most economical use of district funds.”

Terrie DeBolt
Transportation Supervisor
Everett Public Schools

DISPATCH/GIS produces computer-generated maps of district streets, bus routes, stop locations, walk/ride zones and student distribution. Street network maps display colorcoded street segment speeds, street names, address ranges and user-defined hazard streets. Bus stops are placed on even or odd sides of the street for right or left side pickup. Student distribution maps display students according to bus route, grade level, school attended, special programs, or other criteria selected by the user.

Simulation capability

System flexibility allows the user broad simulation capability. Changes in transportation policies or the District environment can be easily simulated and evaluated. The system is designed to accept changes in District policies such as walking distance and hazardous walkways. The impact of school openings and closings, changes in attendance boundaries or school size can also be quickly calculated and displayed.

Client/server architecture

DISPATCH/GIS runs on a single standalone machine or in a client/server environment. The network configuration is scalable from two to 20 users and supports both simple and complex networking configurations in which each server component is on its own dedicated machine. The client/server architecture results in increased data preparation efficiency, better communications of data results, the use of one map and data source for all applications, and is scalable to meet changing program needs.

Fleet efficiency

DISPATCH/GIS achieves maximum fleet efficiency through route and schedule optimization. Automatic operation generates optimal groups of bus stops and sequencing while allowing the user to specify stops, turn-around locations, door-to-door pickups and other special situations during the route formulation process. Transportation policies may be assigned by student, grade level or program. Additionally, individual students with special needs are identified so that their riding time restrictions, medical equipment and aide requirements can be taken into account as the system generates routes and schedules. An unlimited number of user-defined schedules are available.

Extensive reports

DISPATCH/GIS generates an extensive battery of reports. These reports include bus driver instructions which designate left and right turns, street segments, stop addresses, students and special needs by bus stop, and estimated bus stop and arrival times. Individual student notification reports, which can be produced by school, grade, program or bus route, list the stop location, stop time and route assignment of each student. Bus reports list each bus in the fleet, indicating assigned routes, and the starting and ending time of those routes.

Map reports - Various reports listing all the street segments in the District with address ranges, speed limits, traffic restrictions, etc.
Driver schedules - Stops to be executed by vehicles showing points of pick-up, the names and number of students assigned to each stop and the expected time of arrival.
Route census data - Information given on the route schedule plus information for each student assigned to each stop, including student name, address, grade and home telephone.
Time line report - Time chart representation of the schedule of each bus in the operation indicating the schools served, the deadheads between component runs and the start and ending time of each run.
A notification system - For each individual student, the system will generate a report with stop location, stop time and route assignment. These notifications are available to the user for selection of students according to school, grade, program or bus run.