Partnerships: The answer to post-pandemic school transportation challenges
Written by Aylin Cook at HopSkipDrive, Co-Author Tim Ammon on February 16, 2021
We need to start thinking deeply and reacting creatively to ensure that safe and reliable services are available as soon as students need to access them.
The pupil transportation professional in an interconnected world
Part 6: The Future of the Yellow School Bus on December 16, 2020
The bus as an extension of the classroom; flexibility in meeting ever-changing service demands; the transportation manager as part of the educational process, and more.
Adaptive bus contracting
Part 5: The Future of the Yellow School Bus on December 9, 2020
The interconnected bus, adaptive routing, and changing driver demographics demands a different kind of contracting. School districts will change the way they contract for services and/or consider insourcing the required expertise and control, if not the buses themselves.
What the bus will look like
Part 4: The Future of the Yellow School Bus on December 2, 2020
The large capacity, fossil fuel powered school bus may slowly disappear in favor of smaller clean energy alternatives to meet the needs of the evolving service demand and to reduce the climate impact of the work we do.
Who Will Operate the Bus, and Why
Part 3: The Future of the Yellow School Bus on November 24, 2020
A technology-enabled school bus operating in an adaptive routing environment will require a new type of bus operator. Combine this with an economic and pandemic-driven driver shortage, and it becomes clear that the way we have thought about this part-time, casual-employment, and low-pay cohort needs to change.
Adaptive Bus Routing
Part 2: The Future of the Yellow School Bus on November 18, 2020
The on-demand, decentralized, specialized, targeted, and multi-modal educational services of the future will require flexible, on-demand routing solutions pushed to and sent by the connected school bus; what does this look like and how does it change the nature of daily operations in the transportation department?
The School Bus in an Interconnected World
Part 1: The Future of the Yellow School Bus on November 13, 2020
The bus will be a node in the network; always connected, always communicating, always available to be redirected. What does this mean, why is it a game changer, what are the pitfalls and challenges?
The Right Decision: Stay on Track with DSG
October Newsletter 2020
We will be covering a wide range of topics, but all in the context of the world we know best – the yellow school bus – and how this ubiquitous symbol of the work we do is likely to be constructed, deployed, operated, maintained, managed, and used to support the future educational objectives of our society.
Training has changed forever. Is anyone ready?
by Tim Ammon and Tom Platt on October 26, 2020
The pandemic has changed a tremendous amount in student transportation. The exponential increase in both the amount of professional development material available and the transition to low-cost, high volume distribution platforms will be one of the more consequential changes to the industry
Preparing for tomorrow while learning from today
by Tim Ammon and Tom Platt on October 26, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a myriad of instances where our institutions and organizations were unprepared for an event like a national pandemic. However, this does not necessarily mean that we have all failed by not anticipating the pandemic and having a playbook on the shelf.
The Future of the Yellow School Bus
by Tom Platt on October 26, 2020
Are the days of the traditional yellow school bus coming to an end? Probably not anytime soon, but the way they are deployed, the way they are used, and the buses themselves must change with the times. As the ongoing pandemic continues to upend the way we live our lives today, there is an undercurrent of more permanent change emerging as well.
The Right Decision: Stay on Track with DSG
July 2020 Newsletter
The past six months have introduced an extraordinary amount of change and uncertainty. The next six will be no different. You will need an operational strategy that mitigates risks and maximizes service flexibility. The starkness of the contrast between these requirements will be a substantial challenge to overcome.
In this together: Why districts need non-routine transportation partners in a post-COVID world
By Tim Ammon & Aylin Cook at HopSkipDrive on June 9, 2020
The primary challenge facing school districts and leaders in the context of the dual crises of COVID-19 and the economic fallout will be how to best balance the need for services with the almost ever-changing resource picture.
Mis-Guided: The Needfor School Districts to Develop Their Own Response to CDC Guidelines
By Tim Ammon and Tom Platt on May 22, 2020
We commend the CDC for recognizing the importance of school transportation to the safe reopening of schools. We are concerned, however, that this guidance cannot be broadly identified and applied as universal best practices.
The Right Decision: Stay on Track with DSG
April 2020 Newsletter
We have devoted this inaugural issue of the Decision Support Group newsletter to what we believe is coming next for schools and school transportation following the extraordinary impacts of the global pandemic. There are predictable implications within reasonable degrees of certainty, and we should all be prepared with reasoned short- and medium-term responses that need not constrain long-term organizational flexibility.
What School Start Will Look Like in 2020
by Tim Ammon and Tom Platt on May 7, 2020
There has already been much ink spilled over what the start of school will look like for transportation service providers in August and September 2020. The challenging economic and fiscal environment coupled with continued uncertainty about the public health implications of COVID-19 are certain to change the way schools function and transportation providers operate. Right?
Pandemic Response - School Facility Cleaning
by Tim Ammon and Phil McConnell on April 8, 2020
School and business leaders are deep into their initial responses to Covid-19. In order to get back to school, work, and some degree of normalcy, ensuring that facilities are in fact sanitized and that employees and students believe facilities are clean is of paramount importance.