The Scenario
In 2017, EverDriven successfully routed and transported more than 650 school children affected by Hurricane Harvey across Houston, Texas. Since EverDriven had a contract in place with National IPA, the transportation management company was able to start immediately.
The Challenge
The task at hand was challenging due to unique and complex logistics scenarios. Houston-area school districts cover a broad geographic area where the farthest distance – north to south – can take 90 minutes. Following Hurricane Harvey, the Houston-area suffered a loss of both school buses and school bus drivers. Sourcing and vetting fully credentialed drivers was a sizeable task, including the informing of parents regarding new transportation arrangements. Because of the fluidity of many families’ circumstances, oftentimes by the time transportation was assigned, families had again relocated due to temporary lodging constraints. In addition, some students had to attend new schools because their old schools were shut down. Many of the children being transported were special needs students.
The Solution
EverDriven’ Model for Alternative Transportation Needs
EverDriven supplements districts’ transportation programs using a combination of SUVs, minivans, wheelchair accessible vans, and sedans to assist in transporting McKinney-Vento, ESSA, ESE/special needs, and out-of-district students, as well as hard-to-serve and multi-district trips. Supplementing bus service with small capacity vehicles means that districts no longer pay for unused capacity and have the flexibility to expand and contract their fleet to accommodate the ever-changing demands of these student populations. EverDriven accomplishes all this while reducing the cost of transportation programs by 20-30%.
EverDriven Hurricane Harvey Support by the Numbers
Throughout the 2017-2018 school year, EverDriven supported initial requests to transport 151 unique student passengers, with multiple students riding in the morning or afternoon only.
• Throughout the school year, EverDriven supported transportation requests to and from 77 different schools of attendance, including 40 schools with only one student in attendance. This equates to 52% of the schools with only one student in attendance.
• From October 2017 to April 2018, EverDriven accommodated more than 900 transportation requests to either add/drop students, change pickup locations, etc. Until the end of the school year, EverDriven continued to transport 400-plus students under the Hurricane Harvey Transportation Relief Program
Until the end of the school year, EverDriven continued to transport 400-plus students under the Hurricane Harvey Transportation Relief Program.