TIMS / Bus Routes

  • ROUTE INFORMATION

    bus routes

    Pictured above are three bus routes in Northampton County as viewed in TIMS

    Northampton County Schools is required by law to provide transportation services to students as a privilege for students attending state supported schools.  As such, our mission is to transport students safely and promptly every day, in the most efficient manner possible.

    Northampton County Schools uses a "state of the art" computerized school bus routing and scheduling program as required by legislative mandate September 1, 1992.  This program is names TIMS which stands for Transportation Information Management System and is unique in the field of computerized bus routing.  TIMS uses information from the school level's program called SIMS and is actually able to pull up any student in the county on the map as long as the current 911 address is properly in the system.

    Bus Routes are established in the summer for the upcoming school year.  All information is gathered and bus routes are created in Tims long before the opening of school.  The Superintendent has responsibility for establishing/approving bus routes.  This responsibility is delegated to the Tims Coordinator.  Once bus routes are established, any changes recommended by a school must be communicated to and approved by the Transportation Department.   School bus routes are not the same from year to year due to growth or changes in students locations.

    HOW DO PRIVATE ROADS AFFECT BUS ROUTES?  

    In Northampton County this has increasingly been an issue for the Transportation Department and the Northampton County Board of Education.  As a general rule, Northampton County buses are not allowed to travel on any non-state maintained road.  Because of insurance reasons, we do not generally route buses on private roads but sometimes circumstances warrant otherwise.  In some instances, the individual situation must be examined by the Transportation Department and the Superintendent.  Unless there is a written agreement between a mobile home park and Northampton County buses do not travel inside the mobile home parks.  Northampton County does allow the exceptional buses to travel on private roads to pick up students because of their special needs.