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There are many factors that contribute to helping students succeed in school; these include supportive teachers, a comfortable learning environment, and adequate teaching materials. Another factor that is not as commonly discussed is transportation.
Transportation is an important factor in the lives of all human beings as we need to move around from one place to the other. This is especially true for students who need to travel from home to school and back five days or more in the week and also travel for educational purposes like field trips, competitions, and so on.
The Educational Transport System
The most common form of education-related transport is the use of buses and other vehicles to transport students from their homes to school and back. This is often very convenient for parents as it saves them the trouble of doing the school run and gives children the chance to socialize with their friends.
Oftentimes, schools charge a fee to parents who wish to take advantage of these transport services for their children. There is also the use of transportation facilities when children are going out for field trips, competitions, and so on.
There are a few challenges that can pop up for schools that run their own in-house transportation systems, however. First, there is the fact that they have to pay for vehicle maintenance, storage, and other costs associated with owning the buses outright. On top of this, many of the routes and trips taken by the buses must be planned well in advance.
This is because most, if not all, of the buses in a school’s fleet are assigned routes on a near-daily basis and as such, a sudden transportation need might not be immediately attended to. On top of this, the school in question is limited to the expertise of the drivers in their employment.
If, for example, the school wishes to take a trip to a more remote area of their region, they can only do so if the driver in question can navigate such an area. If not, they would have to hire a different driver to embark upon the trip. Finally, there is the issue of student safety when traveling to unknown areas as well as the logistics of accounting for every student on every single trip. Many schools, as a result, might find it too much of a hassle to run their own in-house transport.
How Bussr is Challenging the Norms
The gaps in the education and transportation market are being closed by a number of innovative companies, one of which is Bussr. The company, founded by entrepreneurs Hussein Abdelkarim and IM Shousha, is based in Singapore and acts as a one-stop solution to a variety of transportation needs.
Unlike other transportation apps on the market, Busser does not limit itself to one single means of transportation like cabs or cycles. Instead, customers can order multiple types of transportation from their app, including cars, buses, cycles, and even scooters.
In 2019, the company served over 6 million customers and currently operates in 90 cities. Payments can be made through the app with ease and trips are recommended to users based on cost and travel time. For schools’ making use of such services means that they do not need to incur the costs associated with owning a fleet of buses.
It also gives more flexibility in terms of locations traveled to as well as time constraints. If a member of staff or students need to travel to a far location suddenly, there will be transport services available to meet such needs. Because there is such a wide variety of transport services available on the platform, schools can opt for one-off services or more consistent arrangements.
Bussr is available on both Android and iOS meaning a ride can be booked at any time and from any place. Additionally, users can see the rating for various drivers and travel companies and choose based on the highest rated.
Furthermore, all trips booked through the app are stored on the Bussr interface which means that any trip taken is tracked for safety measures. This acts as a huge selling point for parents who want to ensure the safety of their children.
For trips to more remote parts of the region, Bussr has a growing network of mapped roads meaning field trips can be planned without much concern for location accessibility. There is also the option of booking transportation for members of school staff for various reasons with ease.
While most of the focus on South-East Asia’s $30 billion mobility market focuses on pedestrian and tourist transport, the educational transport sector is a large market. Unlike the tourist market, it is not as seasonal and is not dependent on tourism trends. With Bussr, this market is made more accessible and safe for both students and schools.
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