BusPlan vs HNH HTSTM

BusPlan is a free, open-source tool for school districts that generates optimized routes from existing student, stop, and school-location data. It seeks to minimize bus driving time and can impose a maximum student ride-time constraint. The workflow accepts CSV files for locations, students, candidate stops, stop eligibility, and garage bus limits. Preparation instructions create candidate stops within one mile of each student and calculate walking-distance eligibility. OpenStreetMap extracts are used to build OpenTripPlanner routing graphs, which supply route costs. OptaPlanner provides the constraint-solving engine. Results are CSV files listing ordered stops for each route and assigning students to route-and-stop combinations. A script calculates student ride times, and a Jupyter notebook supports route analysis. BusPlan is distributed as source code and setup instructions on GitHub under the Apache License, Version 2.0. The repository does not list a packaged desktop or mobile download or a support service.

HNH HTSTM is a home-to-school transport management platform designed for councils and local authorities. It connects transport teams, providers, schools, parents, drivers, passenger assistants, and vehicles. Councils can plan routes with mapping and capacity tools, follow live status and assignments, and track missed or incomplete journeys. Passenger records include eligibility, SEND requirements, and transport history, with access limited by user role. The system tracks provider compliance, performance, service delivery, SLAs, KPIs, complaints, and incidents; journey activity can feed invoice validation, route variations, cost comparisons, and spend reporting. Compliance tools cover driver DBS and licence checks, training, document expiry, and vehicle inspections. Safeguarding functions include incident reports, escalation tracking, and audit trails. Authorised school users can view route status, attendance, journey updates, and delays in a dashboard and communicate with transport teams. HNH Nexus serves drivers and passenger assistants, while HNH Connect gives parents journey updates, pickup and drop-off notifications, delay alerts, and secure messaging. The platform is available on Android, iOS, and web; pricing is on request.