Our Story: The Problem That Sparked a Movement
Every transportation director knows the math: bus fleets are expensive, routing inefficiencies pile up, and budgets rarely stretch far enough. Faced with a multimillion-dollar budget challenge, Boston Public Schools COO John Hanlon knew business-as-usual wouldn’t cut it. He needed a bold, unconventional solution. So he did something the district had never tried before: he put out a citywide call for help and launched a public hackathon to reimagine school bus routing from the ground up.
That call to action drew in MIT professor and global optimization expert Dimitris Bertsimas, who led a team of graduate students to build algorithms that eliminated 50 buses from the fleet—saving $5 million. Then, the breakthrough sparked something bigger: Hanlon and Bertsimas joined forces with PhD-level data scientists and public sector leaders to launch AlphaRoute, bringing AI-powered routing to school districts and transit systems nationwide.
What We Do
We provide dynamic, end-to-end software, advanced analytics, and sophisticated consulting support to help transportation teams around the world. We work closely with our clients to develop, test, and implement new solutions that meet their needs.
Who We Are
We are a team of PhD-level researchers and former public sector executives working toward one goal: To transform the world of mobility, saving millions of dollars for our clients, improving the lives of their constituents, and helping the environment.
Dynamic software and advanced analytics to drive every aspect of your operations!
Leadership Team
Dimitris Bertsimas
Founder
Dimitris is founder of Dynamic Ideas and AlphaRoute; Vice Provost for Open Learning at MIT; Associate Dean of Business Analytics; Boeing Leaders for Global Operations Professor; and faculty director of MIT’s Master of Business Analytics. He loves mentoring students and is energized by turning cutting-edge research into real-world solutions that improve lives.
John Hanlon
CEO and Co-Founder
As former COO of Boston Public Schools, John transformed transportation, technology and cross-department operations. A veteran of public and nonprofit executive teams, John holds an MBA from Duke University.
Diogo Lousa
Co-Founder
Diogo is a transportation innovator who turns research into real-world impact. As former Director of Paratransit Technology at the MBTA, he spearheaded academic collaborations, public–private partnerships, and rollout of next-gen routing systems. He holds an MBA from MIT and thrives on making transit smarter and more inclusive.
Mohammad Ghane
Co-Founder
Mohammad is a recognized expert in optimization and stochastic systems. He earned his PhD in Operations Research in 2016 and has published extensively in top transportation journals—turning advanced algorithms into smarter, safer routing solutions.
Arthur Delarue
Advisor and Co-Founder
Arthur holds a PhD in Operations Research and an S.B. in Physics and Mathematics from MIT. Driven by a passion for equitable transit, Arthur empowers policymakers with data-driven tools to build cost-effective, inclusive transportation systems.
Sébastien Martin
Advisor and Co-Founder
Sébastien is an Assistant Professor of Operations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He holds a PhD in Operations Research from MIT and an M.Sc. from École Polytechnique. His research tackles complex transportation systems—from optimizing school‐bus networks to advancing ridesharing solutions.
As PhD students at MIT, Arthur and Sebastien joined with Dimitris Bertsimas in working with Boston Public Schools to develop the revolutionary vehicle routing algorithms used today by AlphaRoute.
Our amazing team also includes PhD-level data scientists, web developers, software trainers, marketing and IT specialists, and customer support staff.
Partners
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Press & Awards
Our work has been featured in the press and nominated for research awards.
Our Privacy Policy
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