Boston Mayor and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Announce All Boston Schools Will Run on Zum Technology Platform

Zūm celebrated its new partnership with Boston Public Schools on Friday at a special back-to-school press conference and demonstration of Zum’s revolutionary technology. The speakers included Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Superintendent of Boston Public Schools Mary Skipper. (Read story here.)

“We know that there are many, many moving pieces to building the best public school system on the planet,” Mayor Wu said. “We’re making some big strides as we head into this next school year. This [Zum] app allows students and families to see their bus assignments, track the bus location in real time, and receive alerts about delays and updated ETAs. This will be a big step forward in how we can ensure that families have that peace of mind, real time information, and the ability to communicate.”

Earlier this year, Boston Public Schools (BPS) awarded a three-year contract to Zum to provide a single integrated technology platform to power school transportation for the district, which serves more than 54,000 students. BPS has implemented Zum’s platform, which includes sophisticated routing software as well as the Zum Parent App.

“While Boston Public Schools is our nation’s oldest public school system, it is also an established leader in innovation and education,” said Sarah Skinner, VP of Partnerships at Zum. “We are so excited to be bringing Zūm’s state-of-the-art technology platform to Boston. Through this partnership, students, families, schools and drivers will experience a safe, efficient, transparent and equitable transportation solution.”

“For BPS parents and guardians, we’re committed to improving transparency, reliability, and convenience for BPS families with the Zum app,” Superintendent Skipper said. “With Zum technology, BPS is looking forward to improving the experience for bus drivers, parents and schools. We’ll also be able to better track student ridership, improve our routing, increase operational efficiencies, and boost on-time performance.”

Friday’s event included a live demonstration of Zum’s technology. On the Zum Parent App, BPS families will now be able to track their child’s school bus location in real time, know their child’s pickup or dropoff status, and receive notifications when their child is picked up and dropped off.

Zum’s system dashboard gives district and school administrators unprecedented access to real-time data for smarter decision-making. Administrators will be able to track buses on a live map, with ETAs that adjust to account for traffic issues or any route delays. Bus drivers will be able to preview students on their assigned routes, which also adjust to account for absent students or traffic.

This exciting partnership with Boston Public Schools further expands Zum’s East Coast footprint and fuels a national movement to improve student transportation, a system that has not meaningfully changed in more than 80 years.

“Our turnkey solution has made a measurable positive impact in some of the country’s largest school districts,” Skinner said at the event. “We are thrilled to bring Zum’s technology platform to Boston, and we are grateful to everyone who has supported these efforts along the way.”

Welcome, Boston – it’s an honor to serve this school community!