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School Bus Routing and Planning Made Easy

School districts are continuously tasked with finding innovative ways to do more with less. Reducing fuel costs and improving staff efficiency are two of the most significant methods for a school district to mitigate operational costs. Furthermore, the current fuel price increases amplify the budgetary constraints all school districts are experiencing. However, one of the most efficient and effective ways of reducing fuel costs and staffing hours is through accurate school bus routing and planning.

Why Routing and Planning are Important

A school district's budgetary resources are finite, but the importance of what it is allocated for is infinitely vital to our students and their future. The fiscal balancing act required of school districts can be significantly stabilized by reducing fuel, operational, and staffing costs. Addressing each of these facets of a school district's expenditures creates a repeatable blueprint that will align a district's budget consistently.

The better organization of a school district's routes and optimizing their plans promotes more efficient routes, more productive drivers, less stressed drivers, and a safer student environment. The current bus driver shortage faced by many districts is creating situations where the safety of students is compromised by inexperienced drivers or drivers who are overworked. However, if your routes are optimized and accurately planned, this would mitigate such situations.

The Benefits of Routing and Planning

Route optimization requires proper routing and planning, but if achieved, it saves time, resources, and enhances efficiency. School bus routing and planning also increase driver productivity and promote driver retention. Furthermore, mitigating operating expenses is more vital than ever, especially considering a district's annual fuel costs. For example, a diesel school bus that travels 8.5 miles per gallon over a distance of 12,000 miles will cost approximately $8,075.29 for fuel for the year. Therefore, it is paramount that school districts leverage accurate routing and planning to alleviate bus stop errors, excessive idle time, route errors, and student misplacement.

Aside from the operational cost savings, school bus routing and planning provide access to location data that permits you to know when your child is on the bus, which bus they are on, where they were dropped off, and through our app, a parent or child will know when the bus is approaching their stop.

This apparent safety benefit negates the need for students to wait out in the cold, dark, rain, or for an undetermined amount of time for the bus to arrive. Routing and planning ensure transportation safety for every student, enhanced efficiency for school districts, and peace of mind for parents.

School Bus Routing and Planning Made Easy

Our routing and planning solution, Crosswalk K-12, is designed to solve the critical problems faced by school district transportation leaders. The solution is based on a powerful AVL (Automatic Vehicle Locator) that streams location data from your vehicles every five seconds. Route optimization saves you time by removing the complexity of solving intricate routing problems. Whether making drop-offs or pick-ups, we provide all the tools you need in one centralized location.

The Crosswalk K-12 solution works by converting your provided location data to rooftop locations. The zones tool then allows you to create rules specific to your school's routing needs. All of these innovative features are conveniently integrated with our routing solution, where you can easily create routes and combine and publish them for use by your team.

The Premier Wireless Advantage

Premier Wireless has over 28 years of experience providing technology solutions for libraries, schools, districts, and communities. We offer customized solutions designed with student safety and driver safety in mind.

Through our years of experience, Premier understands that technology can enhance productivity and efficiency and make tasks more manageable. Crosswalk K-12 helps schools save money, increase safety, improve productivity, and augment efficiency. School bus routing and planning provide the first line of defense that heightens student and driver safety while promoting increased route accuracy.

Crosswalk K-12 is Premier's comprehensive suite of GPS, tracking, routing, and planning solutions that provide peace of mind to students, parents, drivers, and districts.

Premier's offerings go beyond hardware; we provide installation, training, service, and support after the sale. Premier Wireless is dedicated to providing a partnership throughout the entire process, from assisting you in obtaining the necessary funding to installation to a device's end-of-life cycle.

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