Johnston Public Schools Transportation Update
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Zum’s leadership team looks forward to presenting this evening to the Johnston School Committee and community on the progress being made to strengthen student transportation.
Zum and Johnston Public Schools have implemented significant operational changes, with service continuing to improve last week. Our teams worked throughout the weekend on additional improvements for this week, including the District’s changes to traffic flow and student loading at Winsor that were practiced today.
We also met directly with parents and community leaders today to hear their feedback and discuss the progress underway. We care deeply about getting Johnston students safely and reliably to school and are working closely with the District and families to continue building on that progress.
Thursday, September 4, 2026
Zum continues to improve service under the revised student transportation plan made in alignment with the school district this past Sunday, although we recognize that some families are still experiencing delays and individual route issues.
Working closely with Superintendent Sutherland, Johnston Public Schools and town officials, we made significant changes to address tight turnaround times, campus congestion and increased ridership on certain routes. These included restructuring routes and schedules, consolidating the high school and middle school routes, adding buses and drivers where needed, and adjusting arrival and departure patterns. These changes have produced substantial improvements to the overall system and delayed routes continue to trend downward.
At the Winsor Hill Elementary campus, where a single point of ingress and egress contributes to significant traffic congestion beyond our control, we are working with the district, town officials and the Johnston Police Department to better stagger buses and improve traffic flow.
These changes are improving overall reliability, while our team continues to monitor service in real time and work closely with the district to address some structural challenges and individual routes that require further refinement.
We appreciate the patience and partnership of the Johnston community and we continue to listen to families and incorporate their feedback as we make targeted adjustments and improve consistency for families.
Tuesday, September 2, 2026
We continue to see improvement in Johnston student transportation as the systemic operational changes implemented over the weekend took effect. The new plan delivered substantially improved service during both morning drop-off and afternoon pickup, with middle and high school routes consistently arriving at school on time.
Our teams continue to closely monitor service in real time and will make minor route and operational adjustments where necessary to further strengthen reliability. At this time, we do not anticipate additional major rerouting changes.
We also saw increased ridership among registered students as service and reliability improved. On Route 506, that increased ridership resulted in higher-than-anticipated passenger volume today. To provide additional capacity, Zūm is adding drivers and buses to the route.
To be clear, no Johnston buses or routes have been combined with Scituate buses or routes.
Zūm will continue working closely with Johnston Public Schools and Superintendent Sutherland to monitor performance, fine-tune service and build on the progress we are seeing.
Monday, August 31, 2026
We are pleased to report that the new operational plan developed over the weekend substantially improved student transportation services at both drop off this morning and pick up this afternoon.
We want to thank teachers, parents, students and Johnston’s public safety officials for pulling together to implement the new plan.
We know there are remaining refinements to certain routes that need to be implemented, but we do not envision major rerouting announcements like we saw over the weekend. We will continue to work with the district and Superintendent Sutherland to continue to fine tune student transportation services.
We are also aware that certain social media accounts in town were spreading false information today regarding Zum’s operational status. Postings containing false information are a disservice to Johnston families and students. We would remind families to only rely on operational updates from the District or Zum.
Sunday, August 30, 2026
The Zum operations team has worked closely with Johnston Public Schools, Superintendent Sutherland and Town officials throughout the weekend to develop targeted operational changes designed to strengthen service as we enter the first full week of school. Together, we will continue closely monitoring traffic and managing congestion, with support from the Johnston Police and Fire Departments.
Johnston families will receive notifications today outlining the following operational changes, which will also be reflected in the Zum Parent App:
High School & Middle School
Beginning tomorrow, Johnston High School and Ferri Middle School will operate combined runs, with buses first serving the High School before continuing to the nearby Middle School. This change will create greater efficiencies across the school system. Three additional buses will also be added to increase capacity, improve on-time performance and address the Middle School delays experienced last week.
Elementary schools
Beginning Monday, elementary school routes and schedules will be updated to improve reliability and reduce campus congestion. Each elementary school will have independent dedicated routes and buses, with 13 buses assigned to each campus and three additional buses providing added capacity across the system. The updated schedule will also allow buses to arrive earlier, creating a smoother pickup and drop-off experience for students, families and school staff.
We are confident this new student mobility plan will significantly improve service. Given the scope of the route changes and the short adjustment window for families, students, school staff and drivers, it may take a day or two for the new plan to fully settle. We will closely monitor performance and make adjustments in real time to ensure the transition happens as quickly and smoothly as possible. We appreciate continued patience and partnership as these changes take effect.
Friday, August 28, 2026
As we complete the third day of school, transportation service at Johnston Public Schools continues to improve.
We know some families are still experiencing delays on individual routes, and Zum and Johnston Public Schools continue to closely monitor those routes and make targeted adjustments.
This weekend, Zum will implement significant updates based on real-world operating data from the first three days of school, including adjustments to routes, timing and stops where needed. Families impacted by changes will receive information directly over the weekend. With these updates in place, we expect families to see increasingly consistent, reliable transportation by early next week.
We appreciate the continued partnership of Superintendent Sutherland, Johnston Public Schools, the Town of Johnston and the Johnston Police Department—and especially the patience of Johnston families during these first days of school.
Please continue to check the Parent App as changes will be implemented until 8pm ET tonight or reach out to Zum at [email protected].
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Student mobility operations in Johnston improved significantly today following delays experienced on the first day of school. Zum has been working closely with Superintendent Sutherland and Johnston Public Schools to identify the causes and take immediate, targeted action.
Several changes were implemented overnight and this morning, including reassigning experienced drivers to several impacted routes and conducting additional training runs. In addition, the Johnston Police Department provided traffic support around the elementary school campus, where significant congestion contributed to delays yesterday.
Working with the District, Zum also launched a digital portal allowing families to select the bus stops that work best for their children. More than 130 families submitted requests overnight, providing additional information to refine student assignments and further optimize routes.
This school year brought significant changes across Johnston that impacted transportation, including new traffic patterns, new bus routes and the consolidation of elementary students onto a new campus. Zum and the District are using real-time operating data and feedback from families and drivers to continue improving service.
While we will continue to strengthen service, the actions taken since yesterday are already delivering meaningful results. Zum appreciates the patience of Johnston families and the close coordination of Superintendent Sutherland, Johnston Public Schools and the Johnston Police Department as teams continue working with urgency to deliver safe, reliable service.
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Today marked the first morning of school for Johnston Public Schools (JPS) and the beginning of Zum’s partnership with the District. While many routes operated as planned, some students experienced delays as Zum and District teams made adjustments associated with the start of the school year.
JPS operates a complex three-tier bell schedule (i.e., elementary, middle and high school)—and, in some cases, a fourth tier for pre-K—with buses completing multiple consecutive runs each morning. During the first days of school, traffic and congestion at school campuses can create longer arrival, loading and departure times as new routines and traffic patterns settle into place. In a tightly sequenced system, those additional minutes can carry forward and affect subsequent routes and bell times.
Zum and the JPS are taking swift action to be sure kids get to school on time. Zum’s operations and routing teams are working closely with JPS, monitoring routes in real time and making targeted adjustments to timing, stops and schedules. We will continue using real-world operating data to improve performance and reliability each day.
We greatly appreciate the patience and partnership of the Johnston parent community during this first week of school. Our focus is to provide every student with safe, reliable service and make any necessary adjustments with urgency.
Parents with questions or who need assistance can contact the Zum Johnston team at [email protected].