This user-friendly system provides an effective way to store and retrieve all of the data about special needs students, special needs vehicles, and the routes and schedules used to transport students to schools and centers. The system also has remarkable versatility in controlling the daily management of re-routing and rescheduling required by the constant number of changes made wherever special needs transportation is undertaken. The edulog system is designed to offer users the option of either having all or part of the rescheduling tasks performed automatically by the system, or of simply allowing the system to present all feasible rescheduling options and then making the final decisions independently of the computer. In either case, the system considers all of the possible student constraints (times, distances, disabilities and special needs, vehicles in service and their equipment, etc.) to ensure that the alternatives presented satisfy all specified parameters. The system verifies that all routes and schedules are acceptable concerning student needs and vehicle specifications whether bus assignments are entered manually or decided automatically by the system.

The two edulog optimization programs (run building and route coupling) are powerful tools that can be used to increase fleet efficiency while maintaining the level of service. Run building optimization can be performed for a given school or a selected group of schools. The process can be further restricted to a specified group of bus stops or a group of students. Once the operator has defined the set of stops to work with, the number of vehicles available, the minimum and maximum load per vehicle, and the maximum ride time, the system will then produce the best possible set of runs and sequence of stops that minimize travel time and distance while adhering to the user-defined parameters.

The route coupling optimization software combines a specified group of bus runs into bus schedules with the objective of minimizing fleet requirements, layover time, and deadhead travel distance. The process can be conducted for any group of specified runs, and allows the operator to perform various "what-if" analyses on possible school time changes and multiple "tiering" of routes

GIS (Geographic Information System) technology has revolutionized the way transportation professionals view the world. By integrating a variety of elements into one cohesive view, GIS enables effective decision-making supported by accurate information. At edulog, we have always been a leader in bringing GIS advances to the school transportation and planning field, and we are pleased to continue this leadership role with the introduction of the Shape Server software.

This edulog software allows ESRI ArcView geocode shape files to be viewed with the edulog.nt system without conversion. The Shape Server Software is particularly useful for displaying information not contained in the edulog.nt geocode, such as tax parcels, residential and commercial plots, election zones and census tracks. Recently added streets and highways that have not yet been included in the edulog system geocode can be displayed as a layer over the edulog street centerline information and then traced into the edulog geocode - thus providing a quick way to update the edulog system.

With Shape Server, you can now take advantage of the millions of dollars of mapping work done by local, state, and federal agencies by combining accurate and detailed maps with the world's most powerful and flexible school routing software. Never before has there been such a wealth of information ready for you to use in an environment perfectly suited for school district applications.

Often imitated, never equaled. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and while others try to catch up by copying original ideas, edulog brings you the newest, most powerful, and useful solutions.

The edulog system, a complete package of fully integrated software modules, has been successfully implemented in more than 1100 school districts throughout the United States and Canada. They system is used daily for policy analysis and as a decision making tool, and has consistently generated savings which exceed its implementation costs within the first two years of operation.

• Increase overall efficiency and reduce operating costs enough to recoup the system costs within two years.
• Increase safety by being able to quickly and efficiently track riders, stops, and schedules. Emergency parent notification-for example, after an accident-can be done easily from edulog run lists.
• Identify out-of-district students or those otherwise ineligible for transportation-thus potentially either decreasing costs or increasing fee revenues.
• Use the system to quickly produce state-required transportation reports.
• Not only accurately pinpoint student residence locations on a map, but also provide accurate geographic information to other local agencies.
• Quickly alter the transportation plan based on changing student enrollments, traffic patterns, construction, or weather.
• Increase efficiency when planning new school year transportation routes and schedules, and notify all students of their stop locations and times.
• Accurately determine the effect district changes-such as transportation policies, school configurations, etc.-would have on transportation operations.
• Easily produce a variety of reports and statistics that can be made available to the public, drivers, contractors, principals, school officials, etc.
• More efficiently match special need students with appropriate transportation resources-in many districts, managing special needs transportation takes up to 75 percent of the of the transportation staff's time.
• The widest choice of map sources in the industry reduces implementation time and increases accuracy.
• A true different day, different destination routing system that lets you quickly and easily schedule busing for special needs students, after school programs, year-round schools and other previously difficult tasks.
• The best and quickest optimization routines let you consider many more routing combinations than any other approach. You can definitely improve service and save money with edulog's optimization.
• Full system expandability and a proven wide area network capability mean that your system can grow with your district's needs.
• The industry's largest and most experienced support, training, and service staff provide quick, expert help.
• Systems tailored to your district's unique requirements means you're not stuck with "one size fits all" software-and that you don't have to pay for things you won't use.
• Integration with industry standards (SIF, GPS, ODBC) increases productivity, accuracy, and data security.
• Safety that comes from knowing you're supported by industry leader with the experience that comes from having more clients than all other systems combined.
• Integration with other edulog software systems for boundary planning, fleet maintenance, and field trip gives you the security of one source for a number of critical applications.

"I just wanted to share with you a few remarks about how happy we are with edulog and the service it provides to our district. As you know, when I first took this job in 2000 the software was still the old PTS 3 version, the map had never been corrected and the district was not doing directionals as part of the routing process. All directionals were being manually determined and typed on route copies by the contractor.....a hugh and laborious task! We quickly upgraded to NT and began the process of correcting our data/map so we could use edulog as it was designed.....a process that took approximately 2 years as our data was extremely old and inaccurate and there were problems transferring data/systems from the old software.

"edulog staff was very helpful and patient during this update/upgrade process and for the past several years, we have been able to use edulog efficiently for our routing needs and have added several of your optional modules to make our tasks more efficient, and at the same time, improving student safety and reducing the amount of paper generated by our office.

"Specifically:

1. Boundary Planning

2. Web Query (virtually eliminated most all realtor and parent calls plus we no longer generate a monthly 52 paged report of addresses by school attendance area within our district).

3. Creation of PDF reports which are e-mailed to the schools as needed, again elimintating huge hard copy reports generated by our office.

"In addition, we have provided our transportation contractor with access to edulog on a "read only" basis. This has helped immensely with customer service, reduction of phone calls, delayed routes and route changes, plus improved safety with a child who did not get off at the proper bus stop.......the contractor can now access our student and route information directly without needing to call us. What a fantastic savings in time and effort, not to mention the improvement in student safety!

"We are now in the process of developing a "download", if you will, of our student database from Skyward into edulog. Presently, all student changes must be manually keyed into edulog.....a massive endeavor......when it could be downloaded as needed automatically from Skyward.

"In the future, we can envision GPS and student/bus tracking as an adjunct to our overall routing package and goal of maximizing student safety and efficiencies.

"Thank you and the edulog staff for all of your patience, support and effort expended to bring our district up to speed while maximizing our utilization of the edulog program."

"In recent years there have been dozens of software products that claim to offer solutions for all aspects of school business, especially in the area of school transportation. The edulog software actually delivers on that promise. Anoka-Hennepin Schools is the third largest school district in Minnesota with approximately 42,000 students. We have been using edulog for bus routing since 1993 and I can't imagine going through the growth, boundary area changes, bus fee areas, etc., without this system. The software creates an effective blend of student data and geographic data that is well designed and user-friendly. The support staff is accessible and wonderful to work with.

"Over the years, we have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by developing more efficient bus routes with the edulog system, but more importantly, we have been able to better identify hazardous intersections and problem areas to make our bus routes safer for our students. In my opinion, this is the most advanced transportation software available and it is supported by a great staff."

"The Rutherford County School System is located in the fastest growing county in Tennessee. We operate 27 schools for K-12 with 24,000 students. We average a growth of 1,000 students each year. Two new elementary schools for 1,200 students each will open in August 1998 and two high schools for 2,000 students each are in the planning stages. The school system contracts with individual owners for bus service. Currently there are 140 buses-transport (89 passenger) and special education (20-38 passenger)-in the fleet.

"During the school year 1995-96 we contracted with edulog to set up bus routes for 1996-97. The attached comparison sheet, submitted to the Board of Education on October 17, 1996, shows the progress made utilizing the edulog system for one year: Route length was reduced by 1,502 miles per day; The dollar savings due to route mileage reduction was $239,273 for the year; Transportation had requested ten new bus routes, which were not necessary, thus eliminating another $350,000; State overload permits were reduced from 66 to zero, and all students had a seat; Transport time was reduced an average of 30 minutes; The majority of students spent less than one hour on the bus; Students transported increased from 11,806 to 13,083 from '95-96 to '96-97.

"We have not calculated the savings for 1997-98. We do know that rerouting of special education buses has saved about $250,000 over the 1996-97 savings amount. We did not add any buses for 1997-98, which means no buses have been added for two consecutive years. One bus may be needed for 1998-99 even though we anticipate another 1,000 new students.

"The Board of Education has used edulog information to re-zone 2,000 students for 1998-99. The last time schools were re-zoned we projected the number within five students. With edulog we can now provide zone maps, route maps, student lists, and even racial makeup.

"The new superintendent, J. Hulon Watson, who took office in November 1997, commented that he could see that the edulog system had paid for itself just in the time he had been here. Even though we believed the transportation system was relatively efficient, we found very substantial savings. Had these saving measures not been implemented, it would have imposed an unnecessary burden on taxpayers each year, every year. Obviously we recommend edulog very highly."

"EDULOG is so much fun that I can't even imagine a work day without it."