Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Niskayuna to pilot AI‑assisted bus routing and tablet navigation; parent ETA app planned later
Summary
District staff said they migrated routing data to a new platform and will pilot AI‑assisted routing with tablets on buses this summer and fall to improve route flexibility and reduce cancellations; a parent ETA app is slated for a later semester.
District staff told the Academic Programs Committee on June 8 that transportation will move to a new routing platform with AI‑assisted route planning and an initial tablet pilot for bus drivers.
The district said it has migrated scheduling data to a newer version of its routing software and plans to pilot “AI‑informed” runs to set parameters such as maximum route length, rider counts and predicted occupancies. Staff said tablets will be placed on selected buses over the summer and into the fall for a small pilot; those devices will provide turn‑by‑turn instructions and be used with a mentor‑driver model to onboard the rest of the fleet.
A committee member described the rollout as staged: routing and turn‑by‑turn navigation first, driver pilots and then a parent app that will provide ETAs. Staff estimated the parent ETA app would arrive in the spring semester of the next school year or the following fall.
Officials said the software aims to give staff more nimble, near‑real‑time responses to driver shortages and route inefficiencies, and to reduce cancellations by enabling on‑the‑fly route merges. They also said the system will support analytics (driver attendance, daily averages) to estimate required staffing levels and inform recruitment.
Staff framed the work as a multi‑step rollout with pilot feedback informing broader deployment and parent communication tools to follow.
