In the fall 1985, the Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) at NC State worked with North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in the preparation of a project definition report, documenting “the state-of-the-art in computerized school bus routing and scheduling in North Carolina.” This report led to a request for proposals (RFP) for system consultants to work with the DPI and ITRE in the preparation of a comprehensive system design. In 1986, the design was incorporated into another RFP by DPI for software to become the heart of TIMS.This approach was completely unique in the field of computerized school bus routing.
While no vendor could meet all of the extensive requirements of the RFP, DPI selected Education Logistics (Edulog) of Missoula, MT, as the software vendor, with the stipulation that program enhancements would be made to bring the software into compliance with the TIMS system specifications.
Since September 1, 1992, as required by the legislative mandate, all LEAs have implemented the TIMS system.
TIMS is a project of the Department of Public Instruction and is implemented through the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at NCSU – Pupil Transportation Program, Raleigh NC and the UNC-Charlotte Urban Institute.