(ISF) Bus Transporation Software

Hello -

Can anyone recommend bus scheduling software? We need to schedule bus transportation for families to and from our child care programs. The families are constantly turning over and changing addresses. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Matt Einson
IT Director
Community Day Care Centers of Lawrence, Inc.

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Seems to me that any appointment scheduling application will give you the functionality you're looking for.

Set up the bus or van as a service provider and give families appointments on the days they ride.

Vehicle routing and scheduling applications tend to be expensive and more suitable for commercial vehicle fleets.

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>>Can anyone recommend bus scheduling software? We need to schedule bus transportation for families to and from our child care programs. The families are constantly turning over and changing addresses. Any help is greatly appreciated.>>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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Hi Matt,

I searched for open source scheduling software first because often this is a good option, but could not find any. Here is a site with reviews of several commercial packages: http://www.stnonline.com/stn/industryresources/gps_gis/softwareshowcase_02.htm

Good luck.

Jim Cory
Horizon Mapping
http://www.horizonmapping.net

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Hi Matt,

There's this: http://www.localsearchmaps.com/routeplanner which uses Google Maps. It is a bit annoying to use, and it takes a really long time for a lot of points, but it might work for you.

The other thing you could do, if you only have a few stops, is to just do directions in Google Maps, add the addresses, and then change the order of the addresses by dragging and dropping in the list. This wouldn't work real well for lots and lots of addresses, but you can save it and then modify when a family moves or is added/removed.

I don't know anything open source or inexpensive to handle large sets, though.

Best Regards,
Ray

-----original message-----
>>;Can anyone recommend bus scheduling software? We need to schedule bus transportation for families to and from our child care programs. The families are constantly turning over and changing addresses. Any help is greatly appreciated.>>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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We have a fleet of around 40 buses and schedule rides seven days a week, so I know how hard it is to find good scheduling software. We currently use a product called Trapeze, which is amazingly sophisticated (and expensive). It connects our call center and dispatch office to every bus, and anyone can modify bus runs at any point, all the while tracking the changes. But if you have a small fleet, this solution is not appropriate for you. I know that there are alternatives and we are actively searching for one that is simpler to maintain. I'd be interested in knowing what you settle on and I'll let you know what we find.

Roger Hagedorn
IS Director
DARTS
1645 Marthaler Lane
West St. Paul MN 55118
651.455.1560
DARTS - Making connections, creating possibilities
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

-----original message-----
>>;Can anyone recommend bus scheduling software? We need to schedule bus transportation for families to and from our child care programs. The families are constantly turning over and changing addresses. Any help is greatly appreciated.>>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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