BRONX, N.Y. — Bus company Selby Transportation has increased efficiency after installing TomTom Business GPS units and signing up for the WEBFLEET management solution, officials said.

Selby Transportation provides service to public and private schools in New York City with 100 passenger vans. The company has 300 employees and has been operating school vans for more than 30 years.

Director of Private School Services Lee Selby said that the company needs to be accurate if a parent calls asking where their child’s bus is, and the company also wants to ensure students’ safety.  

“We need to be able to provide a high degree of comfort that our drivers are observing safe habits,” Selby explained.  

Selby Transportation also wanted to better understand where drivers were after their morning drop-offs, if the company could consolidate routes, reduce idling, etc.   

These needs led to the installation of TomTom Business GPS units and signing up for WEBFLEET, and less than a year after installation, the company reports that it has consolidated runs by at least 15%.  

In addition, with better visibility into vehicles’ locations and routes, the team has been able to increase the capacity of each vehicle and increase efficiency across the process.  

“I can check routes, drivers and vehicle locations on my iPhone — I’m in touch with what’s happening all the time,” Selby said. “It’s made all the difference. With that knowledge, we’ve been able to consolidate routes and improve the way we do things. We expect these savings to continue to grow.”

Selby also reports that the company is able to provide the highest level of assurances that drivers are practicing safe driving.  

“With TomTom, I know exactly how many times a driver has braked hard or driven at unsafe speeds,” he explained. “Now, we’re able to institute consequences for driving unsafely, and as a result, we’ve seen driving behaviors improve dramatically. That’s a great thing to be able to market to schools and parents.”

Selby Transportation’s fuel costs have also reportedly decreased, largely because the company has more visibility into drivers’ habits. When the TomTom system was first installed, Selby discovered that one vehicle was left idling for more than 20 hours per week. With WEBFLEET, this has changed dramatically, resulting in savings of at least 10% on fuel.

Selby also believes that TomTom has helped the company to greatly improve customer satisfaction.  

“Fifteen years ago, we never could have predicted we’d have a system this accurate,” he said. “Parents are thrilled that they can call and find out exactly where the bus is at any given time, and our ratings and reviews on sites like Yelp have been extremely positive since implementing the system. We’re thrilled with the results.”