QRoutes helps optimise routes for Sheffield’s special transport needs

Sheffield City Council is using cloud-based software from QRoutes to plan and refine around 145 routes for its Special Education Needs (SEN) Transport service. The UK council provides transport for 1,000 children to around 35 schools. Mike Keen, Sheffield’s senior transport officer, says the web-based solution’s multi-layered mapping allows users to view as many routes as required. Keen adds: “It takes about 30 seconds to run a plan and the system will give us an array of around ten different solution
June 6, 2018 Read time: 1 min
Sheffield City Council is using cloud-based software from 8661 QRoutes to plan and refine around 145 routes for its Special Education Needs (SEN) Transport service. The UK council provides transport for 1,000 children to around 35 schools.


Mike Keen, Sheffield’s senior transport officer, says the web-based solution’s multi-layered mapping allows users to view as many routes as required.

Keen adds: “It takes about 30 seconds to run a plan and the system will give us an array of around ten different solutions to consider – that would have taken days to do in the past.”

The SEN fleet includes a range of minibuses and large specialist wheelchair life vehicles that carry up to 16 passengers. The council also uses outsourced taxi services to transport 130 passengers that fall outside the scope of its fleet.

UTC

Related Content

  • June 7, 2012
    Camera technology a flexible and cost-effective option
    Perceptions of machine vision being an expensive solution are being challenged by developments in both core technologies and ancillaries. Here, Jason Barnes and David Crawford look at the latest developments in the sector. A notable aspect of machine vision is the flexibility it offers in terms of how and how much data is passed around a network. With smart cameras, processing capabilities at the front end mean that only that which is valid need be communicated back to a central processor of any descripti
    Read More
  • March 15, 2012
    Traffic signal priority initiatives aid better bus travel
    David Crawford investigates traffic signal priority initiatives developing for better bus travel on the US Pacific Coast Transit patronage rises by an average of 35% along commuter corridors equipped with bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, according to the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA). BRT as defined as bus transit enhanced with ITS systems for better services, is winning new passengers attracted by opportunity to avoid increasing fuel costs and traffic congestion.
    Read More
  • August 20, 2019
    Cost Benefit: the economic case for cycling
    Cycling is good for us for any number of reasons. David Crawford finds that it is now possible to access basic, low-cost data which will help make the economic case for improving infrastructure Cycling is enjoying a favourable press the world over as a ‘good thing’ in the economic, environmental and social spheres. A recent study on the Value of Cycling from the UK’s University of Birmingham, for example, shows that cycle-friendly urban settings can deliver annualised transport infrastructural support co
    Read More
  • June 20, 2012
    Multi-modal transport system key to liveable city development
    Malaysia’s Economic Transformation Programme aims to transform Kuala Lumpur into one of the world’s most liveable cities. Mohd Nur Kamal, CEO of SPAD, Malaysia’s Land Transport Commission, explains how a world class multi-modal transport system will be key to reaching that goal Superficially, Kuala Lumpur, or KL as it is commonly known, is the model of a vibrant, modern, cosmopolitan city to equal any in the world. The Petronas Twin Towers, an iconic global symbol of Malaysia, are surrounded by stunningly
    Read More

Highlighted Content