3 Reasons School Transportation Isn’t Working — and How to Get Things Back on Track
No matter how many years pass after high school graduation, it’s hard to forget how you got to and from school. Whether you walked, biked, carpooled or took the yellow school bus, it’s one of those things that sticks with us. And that’s not just because of fond (or not so fond) memories; it’s because school transportation hasn’t changed in more than 80 years!
As a result of that lack of evolution, the system just isn’t working for today’s students, families or school districts. Here are 3 reasons why — and how Zum is working with districts, drivers and families to reimagine student transportation:
- Lack of visibility: Once their child steps onto the bus, parents have no idea if they made it to school or not. By implementing state-of-the-art technology like RFID and offering a simple-to-use mobile app, Zum enables schools, districts and parents to have visibility into where their children are in real-time along with any route updates and the driver’s profile. Not only does this increase safety and alleviate parental worry, it also significantly reduces the number of customer support calls districts and schools need to manage on a day-to-day basis.
- Inefficient Routes: Students today are sitting through long bus rides that can take them way out of their way — taking precious time away from after school activities, homework or time spent with family or friends. But with Zum’s safe and modern service, inefficient routes, long travel times and unexpected delays are a thing of the past. In fact, 70% of students using Oakland Unified School District’s transportation system previously spent more than one hour on a bus traveling to school each way, but that number has shifted since Zum implemented new, flexible routes for the district so that 97% are waiting less than an hour.
- Scattered information: School districts lack a simplified, end-to-end platform, relying instead on a variety of systems and technologies that don’t talk to one another to make things work. With Zum, school districts can now manage daily operations, track and plan vehicle use and driver profiles, and analyze performance and service data from one place. This not only makes things less complicated, but can also save districts time and money.
At Zum, we recently launched a comprehensive student transportation service designed for school districts, drivers, and parents. If you’d like to learn more about how to reimagine transportation for your school or district, please reach out! (1-855-RIDEZUM) We’d love to chat.