How to use the carpool rotation schedule generator
- List the families (or drivers), one per line.
- Enter the weeks to plan and tick the days that need a driver.
- Under Advanced options, list the days a family cannot drive, one line each, like Smith: Wed for every week or Okafor: week 2 Mon, Tue for one week.
- Read the schedule by week and day and the number of drives per family.
Formula
for each driving day, in order: pick the available family with the fewest drives so far
ties: the family that drove longest ago, then list order
fair share = driving days / families
This greedy method keeps the counts level as it goes. With nobody unavailable, the busiest family never drives more than one time more than the least busy.
Four families, four weeks, Monday to Friday
Twenty driving days shared by four families is five drives each. Smith cannot drive on Wednesdays and Okafor cannot drive on Monday or Tuesday of week 2. The page still gives each family exactly 5 drives, and a separate search over all possible assignments confirms that 5 is the lowest possible maximum.
Week 1 reads Garcia, Nguyen, Okafor, Smith and Garcia for Monday to Friday. Week 2 starts with Nguyen on Monday, since Okafor is away, and the pattern continues without anyone driving on a day they listed.
Fairness and its limits
Counting drives is one kind of fairness. It treats a Monday morning the same as a Friday afternoon, and a long route the same as a short one. If your drives differ, run separate schedules for each leg or treat them as separate driving days.
When many days are blocked, the greedy method may give the counts a spread of more than one even where a perfect balance is possible. The page shows the spread so you can see it, and you can swap days by hand. A family that is away for a whole week simply gets no drives that week, and later weeks make up the difference because the counts are compared over the whole plan.
Related schedules
For household jobs use the Chore Chart Generator; for work rotations the On Call Rotation Generator and the Rotating Shift Schedule Generator; and for players on a team the Youth Sports Lineup and Rotation Generator. Names stay in your browser.
More planning tools
For exams, groups and invoices, try the Time Log to Invoice Lines, Exam Time Budget Calculator and Student Group Generator.
Assumptions and limits
- One driver is needed on each chosen day, and every family can drive if available.
- A day marked away applies to every week unless a week number is given.
- Up to 12 families and 26 weeks are accepted.
- Seat counts, distances and costs are not considered, only the number of drives.
- The example families are an illustration. Replace them with your own.
Frequently asked questions
What does "nobody" mean in the table?
On that day every family is marked unavailable. Change the days away or ask another family to cover.
Can a family drive twice in a row?
Only if nobody else is available or they have the fewest drives. The method prefers the family that drove longest ago.
Can I plan only some days?
Yes. Tick only the days that need a driver and the schedule covers only those days.
Does it remember my list?
No. Names are not saved. Use Copy or CSV to keep the schedule, and use the share link to send the settings without the names.