HopSkipDrive, a provider of supplemental student transportation services, announced that its RouteWise AI platform has identified more than $100 million in cumulative savings for school districts. The company said the platform is designed to help districts address driver shortages, budget constraints, and transportation inefficiencies.

A Planning Tool for District Transportation Operations

According to HopSkipDrive, RouteWise AI analyzes factors including vehicle availability, student locations and needs, district policies, traffic conditions, and transportation preferences to model routing scenarios and identify efficiencies. The company said the platform allows districts to test different transportation strategies before implementing routes.

The company said RouteWise AI has helped districts:

• Identify underutilized routes and better match vehicle size to ridership demand.
• Reduce operating costs through routing and vehicle assignment efficiencies.
• Lower planned vehicle purchases by reducing the number of routes needed.
• Maintain student ride-time limits while improving routing efficiency.
• Increase on-time arrivals and reduce time students spend in transit.

HopSkipDrive cited Colorado Springs School District 11 as an example, saying the district recovered more than 17,000 instructional hours in one school year through improved on-time performance.

District Leaders Describe Operational Benefits

“RouteWise AI provides the clarity essential to maximizing our resources,” said Oz Flores, director of transportation at Aurora Public Schools in Colorado. “As we navigate a districtwide bell time transition, the platform delivers analyses on route design, service windows, and deadhead miles in a fraction of the time it once took to compile manually.”

Dr. Stacey Benson Taylor, associate business manager of Dayton Public Schools in Ohio, said the platform has helped the district reduce uncovered routes and better manage complex schedules.

“RouteWise AI helps us think outside the box to find solutions that were previously not possible with existing tools,” Taylor said. “It’s an enhancement that helps our team find solutions to eliminate route overlaps and improve efficiency.”

Focus on Multimodal Transportation

HopSkipDrive said RouteWise AI supports a multimodal transportation approach by helping districts determine when to use large buses, smaller buses, vans, or smaller vehicles based on route demand and geography. The company said the approach can help districhopskits reduce strain on drivers and transportation staff while improving fleet utilization.