Optimization of School Bus Routing for a Private School in Ibadan Using the Vehicle Routing Problem Framework

Rising fuel costs and traffic congestion in Ibadan, South West Nigeria, have made school bus operations increasingly costly and unreliable for private schools. This study applies the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) framework to optimize the daily school bus routing plan for a private secondary school in Ibadan with a fleet of six buses serving 214 students dispersed across 38 residential zones. Student location data are geocoded and distance matrices are computed using road network data. The VRP is formulated with constraints on bus capacity, maximum trip duration, and mandatory student pick-up windows. A nearest neighbour heuristic is used to generate an initial feasible solution, which is subsequently improved using a 2-opt exchange algorithm. The optimized routing plan is compared against the school's existing routes on the basis of total distance travelled, total fuel cost, average student waiting time, and fleet utilization. Results indicate that the optimized plan reduces total daily distance by 23 percent, translating to an estimated fuel cost saving of approximately 340,000 Naira per month. Average student waiting time is also reduced from 18 minutes to 11 minutes. Fleet utilization is improved with one previously underutilized bus reassigned to a newly consolidated route. Recommendations include quarterly route reviews to accommodate residential changes and investing in route planning software. This study demonstrates the practical value of VRP optimization for school transport management in urban Nigerian settings. Keywords: vehicle routing problem, school bus optimization, Ibadan, heuristics, transport planning