Stops import template

Every column of the stops sheet, what goes in it, and what people get wrong.

Step 1 of 6 in the setup workbook. Next: Routes.

The columns

Column	Needed?	What goes in it	Example	Common mistake
Stop name	Yes	What the driver and the family call it.	`Main Gate`	Two stops with the same name. You will not be able to tell them apart when building a route.
Address	Yes	The street address, for the office.	`12 Example Road`	Leaving it out. It is what somebody reads when the coordinates look wrong.
Latitude	Yes	North-south, in decimal degrees.	`25.276987`	Degrees and minutes (25° 16' 37"), or the two columns swapped. In this part of the world latitude and longitude are easy to mix up - if the pin lands in the sea, that is what happened.
Longitude	Yes	East-west, in decimal degrees.	`55.296249`	A comma as the decimal mark. Use a full stop.

Keep the first row exactly as it is. The column names are how the file is read - the order does not matter, but the names do.
Type into the first sheet. The Example sheet is only there to be looked at; it is not imported.
One row per thing. Do not merge cells, do not add a title row above the headings, and do not leave blank rows in the middle.
Nothing is saved until you press the button. You upload the file, read what each row would do, untick anything you do not want, and only then commit.
Uploading the same file twice does not create everything twice - a row that already exists is matched and updated instead.
Stops come before routes, because a route is an order of stops. Import these first.
Latitude and longitude are what put the pin on the map and what decides when the bus is "arriving". Getting them wrong is the one mistake here that matters.

The routes sheet: every column explained, with the mistakes to avoid.

The drivers sheet: every column explained, with the mistakes to avoid.

The buses sheet: every column explained, with the mistakes to avoid.

See The School Bus Tracker with your own routes in a short, friendly demo.