Back to School 2025: Roanoke, VA

Students in Roanoke, Va., returned to school last week, and Zūm drivers were eager to be back on the roads, delivering safe and reliable rides to families and schools.

The 2025-26 school year marks the second year of Zum’s partnership with Roanoke City Public Schools (RCPS). 

“We have had one of our best openings to the school year in at least 15 years thanks to the hard work of our Transportation Department to improve bus route efficiency, and through Zum’s partnership,” stated Chris Perkins, Chief Operating Officer, Roanoke City Public Schools. “ Zum has 100% of routes covered, and their app provided our families with the ability to track their student’s bus in real-time and have peace of mind.” 

“Zum powered a smooth return to school last week, achieving 100% coverage across 119 routes with strong on-time performance,” said Ravi Patro, General Manager at Zum in Roanoke. “We are privileged to have such highly trained drivers and staff, and we’re grateful for such strong support from our district partner, families and schools in this community. We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the school year.”   

Before the school year kicked off, Zum celebrated its hard-working team with an event for drivers and staff at the bus yard.

Zum manages and operates safe, reliable, equitable, and sustainable student transportation in 14 states nationwide. In addition to highly trained drivers and state-of-the-art school buses, Zum integrates data-driven routing, driver tracking and enhanced safety measures, offering families real-time updates through the Zum mobile app.

Thanks to our dedicated teams in Roanoke. We’re looking forward to a great school year!