Qualified teaching staff and good facilities are all part of quality education. Transport services have now become just as important. Gone are the days when parents looked for educational institutions that are close to home. Most schools offer a pick-up and drop facility through their fleet of school and college buses. These yellow buses go far and wide picking up both students and staff. With such a large fleet, student safety becomes paramount. Technology provides strategic planning, execution and monitoring that ensures reduced risk.
Education institutions that have a bus tracking and management software included within their school management system have shown a lesser accident rate. This makes it imperative that schools and even colleges opt for such a transport management system, keeping student safety as their priority. It also increases parent confidence in the school’s systems.
What is a transport management system?
A transport management system is a database-driven software that helps school admin to more easily and efficiently manage their complete bus fleet. It eliminates most manual interventions and provides instant reports to the school admin on various metrics. These reports would have taken days if not weeks in normal manual administrative methods.
The transport management system is integrated into the school management ERP thus creating an integrated end-to-end management system. The school transport software manages information such as vehicle numbers, driver allocation to the vehicle on a day-to-day basis. The payment module is also part of the school transport management system and offers parents different modes of online payment. It allows school and college administration to revise bus fees and communicate it easily to all parents. Payment history and notification of payment dues makes improves efficiency for the institution’s admin office.
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Advantages of a transport management system
A transport management system is quickly gaining popularity among schools and colleges because of the advantages that it offers. Here are some of the top reasons to consider using a transport management system.
1.Better safety – Helps parents track the bus route
A transport management system equips a school bus with a GPS tracker. Using this, parents can get a real-time view of exactly where the school bus is. This can help parents understand exactly when the bus will pick up their child and when it will drop them off after school. This can help parents plan their timing with greater efficiency, ensuring that children reach the bus on time. The GPS tracking system can also alert parents well in advance in case there is a change in the drop-off or pick-up point, giving them enough time to accommodate the change in route. All of this translates into children reaching school on time and without any hassles.
A transport management system can improve the safety of children within the bus by helping parents or school authorities monitor the entire bus ride. Most schools have an app that is connected to the transport management system which gives them real-time CCTV footage streaming from the bus. The app also allows parents and teachers to monitor the bus route, ensuring that they know where the bus is at all times and can be alerted if the driver is taking a new or unknown route.
2.More efficient – Allows schools to plan driver schedules
Using a transport management system, schools can maintain records of each driver’s profiles, licenses and schedules. There are two advantages that this feature offers. One, it gives parents greater transparency into who is driving their child’s school bus. This can help them feel more assured about their child’s safety. The second advantage of this feature is that schools can easily move around driver schedules in case they need to accommodate any change. For example, if one driver will not be available on a certain day, the school administration can clearly check other driver schedules to find one that is available during that time slot. This can help prevent delays in bus timings and keeps the school bus routine running smoothly.
3.Better administration – Schools can modify bus routes with greater ease
Bus routes often change depending upon changes in demand. With every new school year, new students get added to the bus route and this can often necessitate a change in the current bus routes. Usually, making such a change can be complex and tedious. With a transport management system, however, this task becomes much easier and more efficient. Schools just need to add in the new addresses that need to be covered or remove ones that aren’t required anymore. The system then automatically creates the best routes that accommodate these changes. Since the whole process is automated, it reduces the risk of human error, making the bus systems more efficient.
4.Improved maintenance – Save money on repairs
When GPS trackers are enabled on each bus vehicle, the school management gets to know about the real-time conditions and know where improvements can be made. Reports of driving behaviour correlated with fuel consumption can provide admin insights to streamline processes and lead to long-term cost efficiency. Maintenance schedule reminders can be set to alert admin when each vehicle needs to be sent for servicing and thus improve the life of each vehicle. Notification reminders can also be set for insurance policy expiry as well as driver license renewals thus bringing everything to do with school transport within one single window.
5.Better finance management – driver payroll and fee payment
School transport management software such as provided by iTech’s Edumate integrates all financial transactions into the institution’s financial module software. It integrates driver payrolls along with attendance records. Fee collection from students, teachers and other users of the bus services can be collected along with academic fees. Thus, streamlining all aspects of school transport management system.
iTech India has been providing customized software solutions since 2003. We specialize in Education ERP with a product portfolio built on best practices. We have distinct product offerings for different segments from schools, colleges and coaching institutes. With a large team of technically qualified professionals and mentored by educational experts and technology architects, we are recognized for our cutting-edge ERP solutions. Speak to us today to know more about how our solutions can fit your needs.
