How One City Saved $5 Million by Routing School Buses with an Algorithm

Using AI technology, home address data, and algorithms, the Metro21 Institute at Carnegie Mellon was able to find the best school bus routes to deliver school meals to students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The solution wouldn’t have worked with the help of a community of partners, leaders, and volunteers. “It truly has taken a village.”

To ensure children can safely attend school during the war, schools are building classrooms in underground metro stations. Over 2,000 students currently attend school in one of the five metro station classrooms built so far.

Students in South Whidbey Island, off the west coast of Washington State, are getting to know first-hand the process of farm to table meals. During "farm school" kids get a break from e-learning and help tend to the local community garden, where they also get their meals from.

Substitutes for city parking requirements are becoming increasingly popular throughout the United States. Rather than using off-street parking, many housing developers now provide residents with alternatives that promote reduced driving. This method is better for the environment and lowers the cost of housing in urban areas.

Lack of reading material is not only a third-world problem – many poor families in the United States lack access to and funds for books. A program that helps get books to into the homes of low-income families can boost literacy, and help publishers, too.

In Stockholm, an electric ferry that uses hydrofoils—underwater wings that increase the ship’s speed by allowing it to glide above the water’s surface—causes 98 percent fewer carbon emissions than a traditional diesel ferry. Other cities, such as Lake Tahoe and Berlin, are now considering implementing the technology.

Bloom Innovations or Bloom4STEM aims to inspire youth — particularly girls aged six to 15 — to pursue STEM education and careers to combat the shortage of female tech professionals in the area. Bloom4STEM visits local schools to introduce coding to students and teach them about web development, robotics and mobile app creation and also hosts mentoring sessions to help foster collaboration and personal and educational growth.

BitLab Innovation Hub offers a STEM program geared at out-of-school children, which provides hands-on training to prepare them for careers in technology. The school has trained 105 children so far.

Data Lead Africa offers a training program specifically designed to help prepare Deaf people for careers in technology and data analysis. Students are provided laptops with assistive technology and sign language interpreters who facilitate the training.

The Fortress of the Vulnerable Child Rescue Initiative gathers volunteers to provide an education to displaced primary school-aged children from low-income families. The organization can accommodate up to 300 children at a time and is in the process of gathering funds to build an official school building.