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After the storm wiped out large sections of the district’s route network overnight, BusPlanner’s team stepped in to rebuild every route, relocate every stop, and restore service in roughly two weeks.
Full network rebuild completed
Routes re-evaluated post-storm
BusPlanner team support throughout
Hurricane Helene struck Western North Carolina in late September 2024, causing widespread infrastructure damage across the region. For Asheville City Schools, large sections of their route network became impassable overnight Amanda Rigsby, the district’s Transportation Director, described the scope of the challenge.
The district’s entire route network was no longer viable. Roads and students had both been displaced, communication systems were down, and Amanda’s small team was scattered and unable to reach one another.
BusPlanner’s team began working alongside Amanda immediately. The scope was significant: every route, bus, and stop in the district needed to be re-evaluated. Roads that appeared intact on maps had been washed away once floodwaters receded, and conditions were changing daily. Together, the team built what the district referred to as an emergency system database, a post-storm routing configuration designed for the altered landscape. This included:
Cross-referencing the district's full network against current DOT road closure data to identify every impassable segment.
Moving pickup and drop-off points to main roads confirmed to be passable, accounting for student displacement across the community.
Creating a complete post-storm routing setup within BusPlanner, purpose-built for post-storm road and population conditions.
Adjusting the system daily as road access changed and student addresses shifted during the recovery period.
For a department of Asheville City Schools’ size, that volume of route changes would have taken months to work through independently. With BusPlanner’s support, the core rerouting was completed in roughly two weeks. Once routes were rebuilt, communication with families became the next priority. Asheville City Schools used BusPlanner’s tools to keep parents informed through a completely altered transportation landscape.
BusPlanner's team rebuilt every route in the district's system, working alongside Amanda to cross-reference DOT road closures and relocate stops to passable roads.
Work that would have taken a small department months to complete independently was finished in roughly two weeks with BusPlanner's direct involvement.
By handling the technical routing execution, BusPlanner allowed Amanda to focus on coordinating with Emergency Management, public works, and DOT crews on the ground.
Asheville City Schools used BusPlanner's email subscription tools and parent-facing app to communicate relocated stops and updated schedules directly to households.
When buses returned to neighborhoods across the district, the impact went beyond getting students to school.
For districts managing crisis recovery, this is worth noting: restoring transportation service is often one of the first tangible signals to a community that normal operations are returning.
Amanda’s biggest takeaway applies to every district, regardless of geography or weather risk: you don’t build capacity during a crisis. You reveal it.
The groundwork she had laid with BusPlanner, DOT, Buncombe County’s mechanics, and fuel teams all came through when the district needed it most.
The partnerships you invest in during normal operations are the ones that carry you through disruptions. When infrastructure fails, what matters is whether your systems and your partners are already in place, and whether they can move fast when it counts.
Asheville City Schools’ experience is a case study in exactly that: preparation, partnership, and the operational depth that only comes from working with the right team before a crisis ever arrives.
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