With more than two decades of experience in transportation, Craig Lipps has become a bit of an unofficial troubleshooter or change agent for school transportation operations.
He led the transportation operation at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District in upstate New York for a couple years, where he helped the district save more than $400,000 annually by optimizing routes with the use of Transfinder solutions.
“In this business, we’re working for the success of kids. That’s the bottom line. You need the best tools to do that. I rely on Transfinder to stay a step ahead of everybody else.”
Then he went to nearby Guilderland Central School District (NY) where he saved the district $2.6 million annually, again with Transfinder’s award-winning solutions.
So how does Lipps do it? Here’s the backstory.
When Lipps arrived at Guilderland, he faced a daunting challenge: a transportation department struggling with inefficiencies, outdated software and ballooning costs. The district was financially upside down, contracting dozens of routes to outside providers while its own buses sat idle.
For Lipps, a veteran transportation leader, the solution was clear—modernize operations with Transfinder technology.
The Problem: Inefficiency and Overspending
Guilderland’s transportation system was riddled with inefficiencies. The district had 115 buses in its fleet but was operating only about 70, while paying contractors to handle 36 out-of-district routes.
“It was very costly,” Lipps recalled.
And it just didn’t make sense.
“They (Guilderland) have the equipment and the drivers,” he said, “so you don’t need to contract when you have equipment and drivers.”
The software in place when Lipps arrived was outdated, locally hosted and lacked the tools needed to identify inefficiencies or optimize routes. The data, he said, “was messy.”
A hands-on kind of leader, Lipps left the office to see for himself what was going on.
“I’d get out there in my own vehicle just to watch what was happening,” Lipps said. What he saw confirmed his suspicions: buses sitting idle for hours. “I’ll never forget the day I saw three yellow buses parked at Crossgates Mall.”
He was curious if there was a field trip at the mall.
“So, the next day I went there, the same three buses were sitting there. And the next day I went there. So, I checked the GPS system and, sure enough, those buses were sitting there every single day for more than an hour. I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s a problem.’”
The Solution: Transfinder’s Suite of Tools
The software product the district was using didn’t provide the tools “to look and find opportunities or inefficiencies,” Lipps said, yet he knew the district needed a cloud-based, data-driven system to regain control.
When Lipps arrived, he put a spotlight on the issues – “The problem was bigger than anyone realized” – and the district moved quicker to Transfinder, a solution he knew well.
The first step was implementing Routefinder PLUS, Transfinder’s award-winning flagship routing solution. Lipps personally sat down with every driver to build routes in the new system. “I have a large TV in my office and we sat at a table and worked from the laptop and built their routes. They watched it unfold before them. They were intrigued by it, and it was cool.”
Accurate data from the student information system was imported, giving the district a clear picture of transportation needs.
Coupled with Transfinder’s field trip management solution Tripfinder, which streamlined field trip management, the district was well on its way to greater efficiency. Previously, trip requests were handled through PDFs—a cumbersome process that led to mistakes and wasted time. “Tripfinder was a no-brainer,” Lipps said. “It integrated seamlessly with Routefinder and eliminated the nightmare of managing trips manually.”
The Results: $2.6 Million Saved in One Year
By the end of the school year, Guilderland had saved an astonishing $2.6 million. “That was one school year—September to June,” Lipps emphasized. “And those savings will continue every year as long as they keep using the tools.
Learn more and read the rest of this transformational journey.
To learn more about Transfinder’s technology and support, email solutions@transfinder.com, visit www.transfinder.com/solutions or call 800-373-3609.
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