Three lessons, three corners of town
A tutor has three lessons on Tuesday evening: one in the north of the city at four, one in the south at five thirty, one back in the north at seven. Each was scheduled when that family asked, without looking at the others. She spends as long in traffic as she does teaching, and by the third lesson she is tired and late.
Your terms include a travel fee for families beyond a certain distance, but it is applied by the tutor telling the office, which happens sometimes. Another tutor claims a travel allowance that the owner is not sure she agreed.
Why travel gets out of hand
- Lessons are scheduled one family at a time, without seeing where the tutor's other students are.
- Tutors' travel areas are described loosely.
- Travel fees and allowances are agreed individually and not recorded.
- Matching new students ignores where the tutor already teaches on that evening.
- The owner cannot see total travel across the tutor team.
What the travel costs
Tutors' time, which limits how many lessons they can teach and how much they earn. Tutors leaving for online-only work because home visits are too tiring. Late arrivals that parents notice. Travel fees that should be charged and are not, or allowances paid that were never agreed. And fewer in-person lessons available at peak times.
The scheduling we build
- Each student's postcode and each tutor's home postcode are stored, and travel time between them is calculated using a mapping service.
- Each tutor's week is shown on a map as well as a calendar.
- When a new student is matched or a lesson is moved, the system suggests slots where the tutor is already nearby, and shows the extra travel for each option.
- Your travel fee rules are set: distance bands, what the parent is charged, and any allowance to the tutor.
- Travel fees and allowances are applied to the bill and tutor pay automatically, and shown on both.
- The owner sees travel time per tutor per week, and where students cluster, which also helps with recruiting tutors in the right areas.
| Option for a new Tuesday lesson | Extra travel | Suggested? |
|---|---|---|
| Four o'clock, south of the city | Long, away from other lessons | No |
| Six o'clock, near the five o'clock lesson | Short | Yes |
| Seven thirty, near home | Short | Yes, if the family can do later |
The final schedule is agreed with families and tutors as now. The system shows the travel cost of each choice so it can be taken into account.
Tuesday evening, afterwards
The tutor's Tuesday now has three lessons in the north of the city, one after the other. The family in the south moved to Thursday, when she already teaches nearby. She finishes earlier and arrives on time. The family beyond your travel band sees the travel fee on their bill, as your terms say, and the tutor's allowance is on her statement.
When the owner recruits, she can see that a tutor living in the south would pick up several students already waiting there.
Tutors also get a clearer picture of their own week. Before accepting another student, a tutor can see how the new lesson fits around the others on the map, and turn down a slot that would mean a long drive for a single hour, rather than discovering it on the night.
None of this changes who teaches whom. The family still chooses a time that suits them, and the tutor still accepts or declines. What changes is that both see the travel involved before they agree, so the choice is an informed one rather than a surprise on a Tuesday evening.
Signs travel is costing you
- Tutors travel across town between lessons on the same evening.
- Travel fees are applied when tutors remember to mention them.
- Travel allowances are agreed individually and not recorded.
- Tutors turn down home visits because of travel.
- You cannot see where your students cluster.