A computerized approach to the New York City school bus routing problem

Transportation is an area where operations research has had a great impact on systems by improving service quality and reducing operating costs. In particular, one of the most visible applications is in routing and scheduling school buses. In this paper we investigate various issues related to the development of a computerized system to help route and schedule school buses throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The routing problem presents many challenges because of its magnitude, the vast resources involved and the intricacies one encounters when routing in a completely urban environment. We analyze various aspects of the problem including the generation of routes in the Borough of Manhattan and provide a solution requiring far fewer buses than are currently in use. The computerized system, called CATS, incorporating many of the results obtained in this research, is currently being used to route Special Education students.