Guiding the Way in School Transportation

So You’ve Got GPS – Now What?How to Maximize ROI From GPS

or school transportation operations, GPS offers the potential to increase school bus safety, security and efficiency. Once the systems are installed, however, few districts actually utilize

them to their full potential.“Districts can become inundated with new data and information but may

be uncertain how to get full value out it,” said TransPar Vice President and CFO Jeff McHenry. “Knowing where buses are and what they did that day provides great comfort, but there is much, much more that can be done with GPS data than just leaving bus tracks on maps.”

AVL All the WayMost districts with GPS have invested in an automatic vehicle locator

(AVL) system for good reason. An AVL system is essential to effectively converting GPS data into useful management information.

GPS data can be used to identify sources of too much “slack” in a bus route. For example:

• A bus that consistently arrives at school much earlier than planned in the morning and after-noon or finishes its afternoon routes more quickly than routed.

• A bus that parks or idles along its route when running ahead of time, or has time between runs.

• A bus that may not stop at some scheduled bus stops because there are regularly no riders.

Data That CountsTo reap the routing efficiency benefits of GPS and AVL, scheduled route

times must be established and logged for all pickups, arrivals and drops.For instance, the earliest and latest morning bus arrival times at each

school must be entered, from which buses that deviate from that schedule can be monitored. Each bus’s actual path and times are overlaid onto its planned (routed) path and times, and exceptions are highlighted.

SummeR 2012

INSIDe: Less Yellow Leads to More Savings for Orange County . . . 2

Scott Lane Sees Transportation From All Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Cool Tools for Tough Jobs . . . . . . 4

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Better Together nyone who has worked with the

TransPar Group knows we’re all about continuous improvement. Whether it’s a system management or consulting engagement, we are paid to consistently find better ways for school districts to save

money and serve students with transportation. To do it, we often need to add talent and expertise to our team. Sometimes we add an entire company.

I am thrilled to announce that TransPar and Manage-ment Partnership Services, Inc. (MPS) have joined

forces to serve you better.In the last nine years, MPS has conducted

more than 200 consulting projects of various sizes and types for more than 150 clients in 23 states across the United States and in Canada. They include rural, suburban and urban school districts with contracted, district-owned and combination transporta-tion operations.

Since 1995, TransPar has served nearly 100 districts of all sizes and types. Like MPS, many of the projects have been consulting arrangements, but there are also the on-site transportation system management engagements that have given TransPar the reputation we enjoy today.

Both companies share many of the same competencies, and we are both good at what we do. However, what makes us better together are the different strengths that will now complement each other on behalf of clients.

Ruth Newby

FA

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2 TransPar Group J Navigator

ith 1,500 routes, 1,200 daily buses, 1,600 transportation department employees and 200 schools served, Orange County (Fla.) Public Schools is one of the

nation’s largest district-operated transportation systems. Its budget once exceeded $60 million.

TransPar was engaged by the district’s audit department after slowing enrollment growth and anticipated funding cuts forced OCPS to align its resources more efficiently – that’s admin speak for “save a ton of money.”

First Things First TransPar assessed the entire system with an emphasis on

routing, cost efficiencies, staffing and vehicle maintenance. One of the first moves was targeting dozens of underuti-

lized buses that were ripe for route consolidation. OCPS saw an immediate cost reduction of $600,000. Further oppor-tunities were revealed by analyses of fleet adequacy, fleet maintenance, special education transportation and bell time alignment strategies.

Fewer Routes Answer the BellSenior Director of Transportation Jim Beekman, who came

to OCPS in October 2010, told School Bus Fleet magazine that the district had initially made significant bell schedule adjust-ments, which “saved money but caused some major parental objections. (TransPar) was brought in to look for other ways to save transportation costs.”

In one component of the TransPar plan, OCPS consolidated bus routes and stops throughout the district and made map improvements for more efficient routing. As a result, 44 routes were cut from the previous year, for a cost savings of $1.9 million.

Beekman, who has worked in student transportation since 1983, said OCPS ended the 2010-11 school year with 931 routes and has brought the total down further to 911 this past school year.

Routing reductions also led to staff restructuring that eliminated redundancy. Two routing positions and two area manager positions were cut for savings of more than $178,000.

Going Once, Going Twice …In another key move, OCPS decreased the number of spare

buses needed to support its daily service requirement. A total of 280 buses were sold at auction, generating one-time revenue of $1.75 million.

For the 2011-12 fiscal year, OCPS’ spare bus ratio came down to 18 percent, and additional reductions will be consid-ered in the future. The district’s reduced fleet size eliminated the need to fill vacant mechanic positions. Three positions were cut, resulting in savings of $90,000.

Beekman said OCPS also removed 71 late-model buses, and radio relief drivers (full-time, permanent substitutes) were strategically placed at compounds throughout the district. Radio relief drivers use equipment that was already assigned to routes to cover absenteeism. These changes reduced operating costs for a savings of $3.7 million in 2010-11.

Stepped-Up ServiceIn addition to cutting costs, OCPS has also been able to

enhance service. For example, expanding the use of automated vehicle location and GPS improved routing efficiencies and reduced average daily ride time by about 11 percent, from 94 minutes in 2009-10 to 84 minutes in 2010-11.

Beekman noted that cost reductions were tailored to avoid negatively impacting service for the district’s more than 73,000 daily passengers. The savings continue to mount.

All told, the TransPar audit and recommendations have produced $6.5 million in savings, bringing the total transporta-tion budget below $60 million for the first time in years.

“We have reorganized the operations structure since October 2010, and we will realize another $2.5 million in savings this year,” Beekman said.

Orange County Public Schools resembles many consulting arrangements for the TransPar Group. We came in, developed a plan that produced results, and then we left. As Orange County has proven, when a district sticks to the plan, the benefits keep coming. J

[Some content reprinted with permission from School Bus Fleet magazine.]

Less Yellow Leads to More Savings for Orange CountyTransPar Plan Puts Millions Back Into Education

W

“All told, the TransPar audit and recommendations have produced $6.5 million in savings, bringing the total transportation budget below $60 million for the first time in years.”

www.transpar.com 3

TransPar Management ProfileScott Lane Sees Transportation From All Sides

He has witnessed the impact of student transportation as a teacher, principal and transportation director. Heck, Scott Lane has even been a school bus driver. Throw in the fact he’s native

to the city and it’s difficult to imagine a better person to head up TransPar’s management contract for Oklahoma City Public Schools.

Lane grew up in the district before attending the University of Central Oklahoma, where he earned a bachelor’s in education and a master’s in administration. During college he drove a school bus in nearby Edmond, Okla., where he later taught for 11 years. He was also a principal there, and then district transportation director.

After briefly trying his hand in insurance (“I hated it,” he said), Lane got back into education as an assistant principal in OKCPS. A few years prior, TransPar had been awarded the system management contract for the district. When our on-site director retired a couple years ago, Lane applied for the job.

The district he works in stands in stark contrast to the one Lane attended in his youth. It was more rural then, he said, and today operates under an academy system. Ten years ago, Oklahoma City voters approved OCMAPS, a program that funded $700 million in construction, technology and transpor-tation improvements for the city’s public schools.

“Transportation has been an integral part of both the temporary and permanent OCMAPS projects,” Lane said. “To make a long story short, we’ve completely modernized the entire operation.”

Under TransPar, OKCPS has transformed it into a model of efficiency and performance. Lane is charged with ensuring continuous improvement. Throughout his career, he has seen both the burden and the benefit that student transportation can be. A natural problem-solver, Lane believes his diverse background helps him understand everybody’s needs and do his job better.

“As a principal, you’re not in the money-saving business. It’s not your focus,” he said. “Most administrators don’t have the systems and qualifica-tions to simultaneously cut costs and improve service. I wish I would’ve had this kind of support when I was a transportation director in Edmond.” J

Doing so identifies “late” buses, but also allows identification of “early” or ahead-of-schedule buses, hinting at slack or inefficiency.

Equal OpportunityAt TransPar, we have seen many districts

where monitoring the kind of activity described above is not a priority. GPS data tends to be used for answering questions about whether a bus was late, if it failed to stop at a scheduled stop, and/or address concerns raised about speeding or related school bus traffic concerns.

“All are worthwhile reasons for investing in GPS, and it is often cost-justified as a matter of safety, security and safeguarding students,” McHenry said. “If they’re going to make the significant investment, the payback will come much quicker if they use GPS to help achieve maximum effi-ciency and fiscal responsibility.”

We have seen more than one customer underutilize GPS to the point of internal distraction. Unreliable and often erroneous data was generated, rendering it useless for optimizing bus routes. Over time, however, we have helped them evolve GPS and AVL as a backbone for improving service, reducing the number of buses in service, and reducing costs significantly.

For a more “global” understanding of GPS and its potential benefits throughout your transportation system, contact the TransPar Group today. J

So You’ve Got GPS – Now What?(continued from page 1)

If we had to boil those differences down to the core, MPS could be described as more analytical, whereas TransPar is more operational in our respective approaches. MPS is outstanding at amassing and evaluating critical data; TransPar’s expertise is determining what to do with it, and how to develop a plan and put it in place.

With MPS aboard, we’ll both be able to devote more resources to getting better at what we do. To us, it seems

like the perfect match. But really, this isn’t about MPS or TransPar. It’s about you and your school district.

The fiscal pressures placed on districts today are unprec-edented in our lifetimes. Yet no two districts share identical challenges. The problems are unique. The good news is there are two companies with proven track records of finding solutions. Together, we just got better at it.

Better Together(continued from page 1)

Scott Lane

TransPar Group18 S.W. 3rd Street, Suite 200Lee’s Summit, MO 64063

Navigator is published for clients and constituents of the TransPar Group. We welcome your inquiries and suggestions for future content. Please direct your comments to:

Ruth Newby, president, rnewby@transpar.com

877-524-2033www.transpar.com

We look forward to serving you!

© 2012 Trozzolo.com

Cool Tools for Tough Jobs No Task too Tedious for TransPar Technology

Maximizing transportation efficiency is at the heart of everything we do, and we

couldn’t do it without some valuable homegrown tools. TransPar technology solutions conduct complex analyses and churn out the kind of accurate findings school districts need for swift and confi-dent decision-making.

RouteYield™Most districts can reduce total student

transportation costs by more efficiently routing buses. Easier said than done without RouteYield. Our exclusive efficiency audit analyzes current routes and schedules and closely examines time and capacity utilization.

The result? A clear understanding of which routes are running at true capacity and which ones can do better. By modifying routes to fill up the empty seats, the total number of buses in use can be reduced, freeing up more resources available for better things.

Custom Mapping ServicesTransPar plots your entire system

on a local map, showing all students, schools and attendance boundaries. Maps can be created to show current

walk boundaries, hazards, boundaries for new schools, special education services and student residential densi-ties. “What if” scenarios can be quickly created and mapped for comparison to your status quo.

The custom maps are also great tools for educating audiences who are not familiar with student transportation issues. TransPar can help you paint a picture of the transportation issues to assist you in achieving your goals.

School Boundary PlanningReshaping a school district’s atten-

dance boundaries can be a difficult, often controversial process. Using the student database, TransPar works with districts to create in-depth analyses of every possible boundary scenario to assist in redistricting and boundary planning.

Combined with experienced TransPar professionals, the technology allows quick and accurate predictions of the effects each scenario has on classroom and bus utilization. And, because clear communication minimizes controversy, large multicolor maps and detailed plans are provided to help communicate the benefits to parents, patrons and principals.

School Bell Time AnalysisNo other factor has a more direct

impact on costs than bell times. Believe it – by adopting a two-tiered (double-stacked) bell time structure a district can reduce costs by 40 percent or more over a single-tiered system. A three-tiered system can save 25-30 percent over a two-tiered system.

However, the relationship of school bell times to transportation cost is difficult for most administrators to wrap their arms around. And balancing cost savings with the least amount of disruption and public outcry is no easy task. Helping you find an optimally balanced solution is our objective. We call it the “Sweet Spot.”

TransPar can simplify bell time schedules by charting them in a fashion everyone can understand. Our methods clearly display how bell times dictate the number of buses, runs and drivers neces-sary to meet the service demands, and what changes can be made to improve service and reduce costs.

Used alone or as part of a comprehen-sive consulting contract or management plan, the technology tools described above are instrumental to our clients’ success. To put them to work in your district, contact the TransPar Group today. J