Pasco County Modernizes Student Transportation With BusPlanner

There are approximately 150 bus route in Pasco County Schools, FL, serving over 30,000 students.

Elizabeth Holdren, Route Analyst at Pasco County Schools, shared how her team of four transformed transportation operations with BusPlanner.

BusPlanner has really modernized how we route students. It’s made our jobs easier. It’s brought us into the new age.

Elizabeth Holdren

Route Analyst at Pasco County Schools

BusPlanner has really modernized how we route students. It’s made our jobs easier. It’s brought us into the new age.

Elizabeth Holdren

Route Analyst at Pasco County Schools

Life for Pasco Before BusPlanner

Before adopting BusPlanner, Pasco County’s transportation team relied on outdated, manual routing techniques. The onset of COVID-19 further highlighted the limitations of their archaic approach.

Manual Routing: The team used notepads and manual lookups for routing.
Disconnected Systems: There was no centralized system for visualizing routes or student data.
Delayed Support: Previous software support was slow, with response times often taking weeks or even months to close tickets.
High Costs: Inefficiencies increased operational costs, including fuel, extra administrative work, and the need for additional drivers.

BusPlanner’s Modern Approach to Routing

Switching to BusPlanner transformed Pasco County Schools’ transportation operations. Key improvements included:

Routing Efficiency: BusPlanner’s visual tools allowed the team to see the entire picture at once, eliminating time-consuming manual work.
Reduction of Routes: Pasco County Schools was able to cut the bus routes by almost 50%. This dramatic reduction saved considerable money by reducing fuel consumption and the need for additional drivers.
Enhanced Stakeholder Communication: Features like GPS integration and the Chipmunk app allow parents to track buses in real time, reducing phone calls to the transportation office by about 75%.
Integrated Data Sources: BusPlanner’s ability to pull data from various sources including student information systems, GPS, and student scans eliminated silos within the department.

Why Pasco County Schools Chose BusPlanner?

Pasco County Schools found that BusPlanner’s combination of technology, support, and partnership stood out from other solutions they had tried:

Exceptional customer service and responsive support.

A user-friendly interface that new hires can quickly learn.

Continuous product evolution based on user feedback.

With BusPlanner support, you’re usually getting answers instantaneously — they work through problems with you. They don’t put you on the back burner.

Elizabeth Holdren

Route Analyst at Pasco County Schools

With BusPlanner support, you’re usually getting answers instantaneously — they work through problems with you. They don’t put you on the back burner.

Elizabeth Holdren

Route Analyst at Pasco County Schools

Final Thoughts

“They didn’t just make a product and stop there. They’re always trying to evolve and bring new products to help transportation.”

BusPlanner didn’t just provide Pasco County Schools with software. It delivered a transformative partnership that modernized routing, saved money, streamlined communication, and improved service to families.

“If somebody was on the fence about BusPlanner, I would say to just go for it.” Elizabeth added that BusPlanner was the most user-friendly and efficient software Pasco County Schools ever used.