White House Recognizes Zum During Visit to San Francisco Facilities

White House Recognizes Zum During Visit to San Francisco Facilities

Heather Boushey, the Chief Economist for the Invest in America Cabinet at the White House, met with Zūm executives and other distinguished guests today at Zum’s San Francisco bus yard.

The visit, which took place at Zum’s San Francisco bus yard, included a tour of Zum’s state-of-the-art facilities, a ride on one of Zum’s electric buses, a meeting with leadership, including Zum Founder and CEO Ritu Narayan as well as a robust roundtable discussion on the importance of the acceleration of the transition to electric with Kevin Gong, EPA Pacific Southwest Region; Lisa Grant Dawson, Oakland Unified School District; Kim Raney, Oakland Unified School District; Arcadio Fokin, San Francisco Unified School District; Garth Saloner, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Dan Lashof, World Resource Institute; Sharon Lai, World Economic Forum; Ram Rajagopal, Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab; Tor Larson, Calstart; and Darlene Chiu Bryant, Global SF.

Boushey highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration’s recent announcement of nearly $90 million across California for clean school buses.

“We were honored to host Heather Boushey to demonstrate how Zum’s proprietary technology is transforming the $50 billion student transportation industry providing a revolutionary connected platform, increased safety and a commitment to equity and sustainability,” Narayan said. “We commend the Administration for its historic investments in the electrification of transportation and supporting our vision of a better, healthier future for our children.”

“Since day one of this Administration, President Biden has committed to growing the economy from the middle-out and bottom-up. He passed historic legislation – the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act – all of which make up his Investing in America agenda,” Boushey said. “And it is rebuilding our infrastructure, lowering costs, and creating opportunities for families, workers, and small businesses. The EPA’s Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition will boost our economy, create good-paying jobs, and improve air quality for children and their families.”

Left to Right: Heather Boushey, Chief Economist for the Invest in America Cabinet at the White House; Kevin Gong, Staff Director, U.S. EPA Pacific Southwest Region; and Ritu Narayan, Founder and CEO, Zum.

“Clean school buses are a win for our students, our community health, and for our planet. In Oakland, we are all in for the green economy, with equity leading the way to better jobs, cleaner air, and climate progress,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, “Federal bipartisan infrastructure funding has helped us leverage State and regional funding to build green energy, improve public transportation and maritime and shipping operations, and add jobs. Oakland values its partnership with the Biden Harris administration to keep enhancing our clean and green community.”

“The work Zum has been doing in our community has been invaluable to the health and well-being of Oakland,” said Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “We have partnered with Zum since the beginning because we saw the potential. The quiet, green buses get our students to school ready to learn, and they are improving the air quality of our city dramatically. That is good news for our students, families, staff, and all city residents. Oakland has long dealt with poor air quality because of the proximity to freeways and other sources of pollution. OUSD is thrilled that we can do our part to cut down on dirty air by using Zum buses to transport our students. We look forward to working with state and federal leaders to increase the use of this kind of transportation here and across the country.”

In January, the EPA announced that Zum would receive over $26 million through the EPA’s first Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition to help Zum’s school district partners electrify their school bus fleets.

Students, schools and families in San Francisco are experiencing the benefits of Zum, including a 25% reduction in time students spend on the bus and $3 million in savings per year.

With the recent EPA Clean School Bus Program and State of California grants, Zum will be expanding its electric fleet and infrastructure in San Francisco and Oakland. With over 280 electric chargers installed and up to 120 electric school buses arriving in the coming school year, Zum is pacing towards its goal of transitioning San Francisco Unified School District and Oakland Unified School District to fully electric fleets by the end of the 2026-2027 school year.

Thank you to Heather Boushey and the Administration for supporting and investing in Zum’s mission to deliver safe, reliable and sustainable transportation!