Just as there's no one-size-fits-all way to educate students, perhaps there is no one-size-fits-all-way to get them to school either. That is the argument behind HopSkipDrive, a startup that is seeking to complement and redefine the traditional bus model of taking students to school. Instead of kids making their way to the pre-determined route of…

This paper presents the development process and framework used to construct a transportation app that uses situated learning, augmented reality, and communities of practice. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can cause social impairments as well as the limit the potential for the individual to achieve independence…

The most salient aspect of independent living and successful post-high school transition to employment is having the ability to independently use transportation. Adolescents and young adults with disabilities continue to experience significantly lower employment rates than their peers without disabilities (Wagner et al., 2003). One way to support…

The computerization of school bus maintenance records by the Niskayuna (New York) Central School District enabled the district's transportation department to engage in management practices resulting in significant savings. The district obtains computer analyses of the work performed on all vehicles, including time spent, parts, labor, costs,…

Divided into four major sections, this collection of articles addresses the sharing of services in California by school districts or by districts and other agencies. The section on advertising and recruitment makes a case for districts to share in the purchase of employment ads or in the hiring of a recruiter. A reprint of an article about a…

The San Diego Unified School District (California) began operating a computerized routing and scheduling system for its pupil transportation services at the beginning of the 1985-86 academic school year. The computerized system, provided by Ecotran Systems, Inc. (ECO) of Cleveland, Ohio experienced an inordinate number of difficulties. A…

The school bus alert monitor is a computerized school bus alert and warning sytem that notifies parents of school bus arrival via radio frequency technology. The system also has been shown to enhance the self esteem of disabled transportation users. (CL)

A computer was used to produce a cost effective redistricting plan for Fall River (Massachusetts) that eliminated nine rental and three city-owned school buildings, and reduced transportation costs. (Author/MLF)

Microcomputers have many cost- and time-saving uses in school transportation management. Applications include routing and scheduling, demographic analysis, fleet maintenance, and personnel and contract management. Word processing is especially promising for storing and updating documents like specifications. Enrollment forecasting and inventory…

At each of Baltimore's 46 junior and senior high schools, a microcomputer system distributes tickets for subsidized lunches and transportation for over half of the students. (MLF)

The Computerized Fleet Maintenance (CFM) program of a New York school district has major component areas of garage operation, vehicle replacement, and fuel consumption. CFM detects high expenditures and provides the rationale for bus replacement. (MLF)

Beginning on the front cover, this article tells how school districts are reducing their transportation costs. Particularly effective measures include the use of computers for bus maintenance and scheduling, school board ownership of buses, and the conversion of gasoline-powered buses to alternative fuels. (Author/MLF)

The computer-based system for routing school buses in rural areas which is discussed minimizes both transportation costs and the average student ride time. Route generation methodology is described and a flowchart of the algorithm is included. (Author/JJD)

Regrouping cars from incoming trains into blocks of cars for outgoing trains is accomplished in railroad "hump" classification yards. Discusses: hardware and software elements of such installations; physical models on which software is based; success in predicting/regulating car speeds; and results of recent research into factors…

Discusses geoprocessing, a computer mapping technique used by the Portland (Oregon) School District in which geographic analysis and data processing are combined. Several applications for administrative decision-making are discussed, including bus routing and redistricting. (JJD)