Think about the key locations you wish to include on your bus route. For example, if you are planning a tourist bus around Los Angeles, you may wish to include tourist locations such as Hollywood, Santa Monica and Ventura Boulevard in your route.
Ensure that there are stops near all important locations. If you want to make money out of your bus route, you have to include stops at all major locations so that you open your bus up to the most customers. Plan the route around your key locations, but it is worth taking a detour from the route to include a big pick up point, such as a location downtown or anywhere near major hotels and workplaces.
Avoid areas overly prone to congestion. If there is a route that will still enable you to get to the next stop but leaves out a frequently busy road, it is worth adjusting the route to accommodate. People may catch your bus once to see if it is a good option for them, but if they spend the journey stuck in traffic, they are likely to have a negative memory of the trip. In some situations, such as when there is a high profile stop on a large street, it is unavoidable, but if there is a time-efficient alternative, you should take it.
Purchase a routing software program. Routing software can help you create a bus route on your computer and can quickly process important information such as total mileage and the time the route should take.
Go to your local bus service provider's website. Most bus companies have "Route Planners" on their websites, and these make the process of planning the route to your destination much easier.
Enter your desired starting and finishing point into the relevant fields. The website will also request your desired time and date of travel. It will match your requirements up to the bus timetables. Click "Plan Trip" or the equivalent button when you have entered the required information.
Choose your desired service from the list. The website will list full details of your desired journey and all of the options that are available to you.
