W


hen searching for the word “route” in the 2015 National School Transpor- tation Specifications and Procedures, over 200 instances appear through-


out the 520-page document. The word is as impactful as it is common, as routes not only determine passenger capacity and ride times but also safety. AI-enhanced software and tablets promise to streamline the process, but nothing beats good, old-fashion human beings who know their service areas like the back of their hands. Earl Kent, the route planning manager for Denver


Public Schools in Colorado chuckled when asked how a route is created. “That’s a very layered question,” he said. The first step is looking at historical data and analyz-


ing what’s changed from the previous school year. He suggested several questions to ask: “Did I have school closures? Do I have new zones? Do I need to reevaluate where these stops are at and how many stops I’m using?” The next step, he said, is figuring out the distance


between stops and the time each student spends on the route. This is where understanding parameters becomes important, such as the maximum amount of time a stu- dent should be on a school bus, which could dictate the need to create a new route. If the route is too long, he said it could be time to start looking at other solutions when it’s not financially feasible to send a yellow bus, like using a vendor to support out-of-district transportation. Kent explained that the routing process is an evolv-


ing process throughout the school year. He shared that Denver has just under 90,000 students, about one-third of which are eligible to ride the school bus. That makes


the likelihood of students moving around the district very high. “All year long, my routers are looking at shifting


needs,” he said. That could mean taking students off the bus and put- ting them on an alternative transportation vehicle. He explained that routers are working in the software


during the entire route-creation process. “But a lot of times it does just take good base knowledge of the city and routing and things along that line,” he said, adding that even if the software approves a route, routers need to understand traffic patterns and other route consider- ations that the software might not know. Kent noted that he oversees a route supervisor, five


routers and two athletic excursion specialists. Cassidy Miller, administration assistant and router/dis-


patcher for Snohomish School District in Washington, said route creation differs based on route planning at the beginning of the school year route and needs that pop up during the middle of the year. Routers start working on updating general education routes in the summer, whereas all special education routes are scrapped at the end of a school year and reworked for the next one be- cause of programs and changes to student needs. “It starts with identifying all of the criteria needed and


inputting those into our routing system,” she said, add- ing the district serves 126-square miles. For example, everything from school start time to early


release Fridays need to be accounted for, she said. How- ever, if the computer calculates the route as 30 minutes long, routers need to understand that the software only


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