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Zum CEO talks about the future of student transportation on ‘Supercool’ podcast

This week Zūm CEO Ritu Narayan appeared on the Supercool podcast to talk about how Zum’s industry-leading technology and modern school buses are shaping the future of student transportation.

“Student transportation has not changed in 80 years. Kids commute the same way you and I did, or our grandparents did,” Narayan told host Josh Dorfman. “No technology had touched this area, which led to little transparency – parents can track their pizza and their packages, but they don’t know where their kids are.”

Narayan spoke about how her own frustration with her children’s student transportation led her to start Zum.

“Having a personal problem led to this passion,” she said. “My kids rode Zum and would be the first ones to give me feedback. When we started, I would go in different communities, and (people) would talk about Zum and say, ‘It seems like a parent designed it!’”

Narayan also discussed how, in 2024, Zum launched the nation’s first school district with an all-electric school bus fleet with vehicle-to-grid technology in Oakland Unified School District.

“These electric school buses are actually the largest battery on wheels,” she says. “They are four to six times (the size of) a Tesla battery, and they have a very predictable local commute pattern. … So they can be used as a storage device, and we can provide energy back to the grid, making the grid more resilient and also making the whole system more affordable. It was a win-win-win.”

Dorfman, whose show focuses on “real-world climate solutions that cut carbon and improve modern life,” also asked about Zum’s future plans and rapid expansion across the country.   

“For us, success of the customer is the number one thing,” Narayan said. “Teachers have found that students (who travel via Zum) were more engaged in class because they were having a better ride experience. We also take care of the bus environment itself: Buses have air conditioning, the seats are more comfortable. … And then there’s the component of knowing where your bus is and not having the anxiety of waiting in the snow and the rain.”

Thank you to Josh for an engaging and thoughtful conversation! Listen to the episode here, or wherever you get podcasts: https://share.transistor.fm/s/3fd2c215