In suburban-rural Albemarle County (Virginia), computer assistance in evaluating manually-designed school bus routes helped increase efficiency in pupil transportation and reduce the number of routes, buses, and vacant seats. (RW)

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…

Traces efforts to develop a statewide plan for computerized school bus fleet operation by means of questionnaires distributed to all 58 county education offices, 7 regional data processing centers, and selected private school bus contractors and school districts. Findings indicate significant potential savings for fleets of 20 or more busses. (JBM)

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)

Presents multicriteria school bussing models, reporting on the application of goal programming to the bussing problem in order to achieve multiple, conflicting objectives. Available from: Management Science, 146 Westminster Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, $4.50 single copy. (Author/JG)

Less than five percent of the pupils in northeastern Rhode Island Region I are transported to schools or educational centers outside of their districts. However, about 20 percent of the total transportation costs are expended for out-of-district transportation of nonpublic school, vocational, and special education students. The purpose of the…

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…

School systems will soon be using microcomputers to design their school bus routes and aid in the management of transportation programs. Offers guidelines to bring microcomputer bus management to school systems. (MLF)

Describes a districtwide effort to select and implement a computerized system that could compile and maintain student census data, in addition to redesigning the district's school bus routes to better accommodate a growing student population without increasing the number of buses in service. (JG)

There are two basic approaches offered in current computerized transportation routing and scheduling programs: the mathematical programming approach and the intuitive optimization approach. Lists questions that an informed buyer should ask of the routing and scheduling company. (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)