Student Routes

Student Routes are the school bus runs in RouteBot. A route defines which students are picked up or dropped off, in what order, and by which driver and vehicle. In the panel, open Routes, then the Student Routes tab.

What is a Vehicle Route?

A Vehicle Route in RouteBot includes:

  • Route Type - Pickup (morning) or Drop-off (evening)
  • School Destination - Where students are going to/from
  • Students - Who is on this route
  • Driver(s) - Who operates the vehicle
  • Vehicle Plate - Which vehicle is used
  • Schedule - When the route operates
  • Route Map - Visual display of all stops

Accessing Vehicle Routes

  1. Click Routes in the main navigation
  2. Select the Student Routes tab
  3. You'll see a list of all routes in your system

Creating a New Vehicle Route

To create a new route:

  1. Click the Create New Route button
  2. Fill in the route information

Route Information

Field Description Required
Route Type Pickup or Drop-off Yes
School The destination school Yes
Route Name A descriptive name for the route Yes
Arrival Time When the route should arrive at school (pickup) or start (drop-off) No

Understanding Route Types

Pickup Routes (Morning)

  • Students are collected from home
  • Destination is the school
  • The arrival time is when you want to reach the school

Drop-off Routes (Evening)

  • Students are collected from school
  • Destination is each student's home
  • The arrival time is when the route departs from school

Vehicle and Driver

Field Description
Plate License plate of the vehicle
Drivers Select one or more drivers for this route

Tip: Driver phone numbers can be shared with parents via SMS notifications.

Adding Students

  1. In the Passengers in the Route field, search for students
  2. Select students to add them to the route
  3. Students appear in a list below

Note: Only active students with verified addresses will appear in the search.

Warnings

RouteBot will warn you about:

  • Students without parents - No one will receive notifications
  • Students without addresses - Cannot be placed on the map

Route Settings

Active/Inactive Status

Status Description
Active Route is operational and visible in tracking
Inactive Route is not in use (e.g., during holidays)

Show Passengers Time

When enabled, individual pickup times are displayed to parents in their notifications.

Service Observer Times

For tracking purposes, you can set:

  • Start Time - When tracking should begin
  • End Time - When tracking should end

These help filter live tracking views.

Operating Days

The route includes an Operating Days card, labeled "Which days does this service run?"

  • If no day is selected, weekdays are assumed, Monday through Friday
  • Where custom driver planning or timesheets are configured for your company, this setting can be used for timesheets and automatic driver suggestions
  • It does not remove the route from the driver app. The driver still sees the service on days you did not select

Where connected device service tracking is enabled, the planned days also help determine when that service is expected to run. A date-specific service uses its date rather than the recurring weekday selection.

Several Departures on the Same Day

A route record and its daily journey are different things. Tracking uses a daily journey record for each saved service and the company's local date. Restarting the same service on that day can reuse that journey; it does not create a separate history for a new departure.

For separately scheduled and tracked departures, create separate route records, such as North Pickup 07:00, North Pickup 09:00, and North Drop-off 17:00. Assign their passengers, drivers, vehicles, and times separately. Each saved route counts toward the route limit; running it again on another day does not create an additional route slot. See Subscription and Billing.

Using the Route Map

The route map helps you visualize and optimize your route:

Viewing the Map

  1. Add students to the route
  2. Click Show Map to display the route visualization
  3. You'll see:
    • School location (destination)
    • Student pickup/drop-off points
    • Route line connecting all stops

Optimizing Stop Order

RouteBot can optimize the order of stops:

  1. Click the optimize button on the map
  2. RouteBot calculates an efficient stop order for this route
  3. The student list is reordered accordingly
  4. Review and save the route

Manual Reordering

You can also manually arrange stops:

  • Drag and drop students in the list
  • The map updates to show the new route

Individual Pickup Times

For each student, you can set specific pickup times:

  • These times are shown to parents
  • Helps parents know exactly when to expect the bus

SMS Notifications

From the route details, you can access SMS features:

  1. Open the route
  2. Click on the SMS Management tab
  3. Send notifications to parents of students on this route

See SMS Notifications for more details.

Editing a Route

To modify an existing route:

  1. Go to Routes > Student Routes
  2. Click on the route you want to edit
  3. Update the desired fields
  4. Add or remove students as needed
  5. Click Update to save changes

Deleting a Route

To delete a route:

  1. Open the route details
  2. Scroll to the bottom
  3. Click Delete
  4. Confirm the deletion

Warning: Deleted routes cannot be recovered. Consider setting to Inactive instead.

Won't Ride

This panel is not on every account. When the feature is on, the route record includes a Won't ride section.

  • Pick a date. Today is also labeled Today
  • A marked student is treated as not riding that day
  • With no mark, the student is expected to ride
  • A parent can set the same mark in the mobile app. Both sides edit the same record

The Won't ride column on the list is the count for that day. Parent steps are in the mobile help article Will Not Ride.

Runs that cover more than one school belong on Bundled Routes. That tab can show the same panel.

Best Practices

Route Naming

Use descriptive, consistent names:

  • Include direction: "Morning Route A" or "Afternoon North"
  • Include area: "Downtown Pickup" or "Suburb Evening"
  • Include school if you have multiple: "Lincoln Morning 1"

Student Organization

  • Group students by geographic area
  • Use route optimization to find the best order
  • Keep route sizes manageable (check vehicle capacity)

Multiple Routes

For large operations:

  • Create separate morning and evening routes
  • Split large areas into multiple routes
  • Assign dedicated drivers to specific routes

Route Timing

  • Set realistic arrival times
  • Account for traffic and road conditions
  • Build in buffer time for pickup stops

Regular Updates

  • Review routes at the start of each term
  • Update when students join or leave
  • Adjust for address changes

Common Issues

"Student doesn't appear in search"

  • Check that the student is Active
  • Verify the student has a verified address
  • Confirm the student is assigned to the correct school

"Route map doesn't show properly"

  • Ensure all students have verified addresses
  • Check that the school has a verified location
  • Try refreshing the page

"Parents not receiving notifications"

  • Verify parents are linked to students
  • Check parent phone numbers are valid
  • Confirm the route is Active

Next Steps:

Last updated: October 9, 2026