BusPlan vs School Bus Manager
BusPlan
github.com
School Bus Manager
schoolbusmanager.comSide by side
| Figure | BusPlan | School Bus Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $82.50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · School Bus Routing Software | 8.3 (#6) | 8.7 (#2) |
| Intended users | The project describes its goal as reducing public school budgets and helping students spend less time riding to school. | The maker says its pricing is designed for districts or operations of any size, with enterprise contact pricing for more than 2500 riders. |
| Purpose | BusPlan generates school bus routes for existing students, stops, and school locations, optimizing for minimum bus drive time. | School Bus Manager takes rider data from student information systems to create bus routes and trips with directions, stop times, and maps. |
| Security | The repository page does not state any product-specific security certifications or compliance claims. | The company says mobile-to-site traffic uses SSL/TLS encryption and customer data is hosted on Amazon Web Services. |
| Support | The repository provides setup and usage instructions in its README; it does not state a support service. | Sales and support are available Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm EST. |
Plans
School Bus Manager
- Lite$990 a year
- Plus$1,790 a year
- Standard$3,990 a year
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
BusPlan
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.
School Bus Manager
School Bus Manager turns student rider data into bus routes and trips with directions, stop times, and maps. Users can optimize or modify routes, then use load-balancing tools to find overlaps, adjust stops, and reassign riders. Attendance tools record who is present and monitor who is onboard, while route data can roll forward from year to year. Rider data can be imported from CSV or XLSX files and Department of Education files. ChildPlus users can export report 1527 for import; compatibility is stated for version 4.6.0.0 or later. Android and iOS Driver Console and Parents App features include live vehicle tracking, attendance, ETA notifications, and real-time rider and vehicle locations. The service is available on Android, iOS, macOS, web, and Windows. A full 15-day trial has no limitations, credit card requirement, or contract. Annual plans begin with Lite at $990 a year for up to 500 riders, plus a 199 USD first-year startup fee. New subscriptions and renewals require a 12-month minimum commitment, with no prorating or refunds.