Rapid route deployment with Zum
Duarte Unified School District switches to right-size vehicles to save time and money.
Serving over 3,800 pre-K to 12 students in Los Angeles, Duarte Unified School District sought more reliable, affordable and compassionate transportation services for its Special Education students.
With a long history of contracting with traditional yellow bus transportation companies, Duarte sought a special education solution that was more reliable, affordable and less time-consuming. Zum simplified student transportation for Duarte Unified, freeing staff to focus on education and other important activities. Secretary of Special Education, Gloria McCravey notes that she previously submitted route requests to bus contractors at least one month in advance, only to get the information she needed to pass onto parents just 2-3 days before school started.
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“Before Zum, I had to frantically scramble and call 100+ parents multiple times, plus bus companies, arranging pick-ups and drop-offs. It was a nightmare,” she notes. “Zum has technology that creates routes in one day,” Gloria says. “They also explain rides and procedures to parents, so we don’t have to.” She points out that because parents can follow their children’s rides in real-time on the Zum mobile app, there’s less support needed. “If parents have a question, Zum is on it immediately. They’re awesome and always positive.”
Results
- Cost savings of 10%
- Reduced number of yellow buses by 35% by using right-sized vehicles
- Reduced route planning lead time
- Improved experience for parents and students
- Reduced communication overhead between district and parents
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I have closely worked with the Zum team over the last 7 years, and have observed first-hand the benefit of applying their technology to solve our complex day-to-day operations needs.
With Zūm CMX, we save about $3.5 million on a yearly basis, just by reducing the number of routes. We reduced routes by 10% immediately, right when we implemented it. All of our key metrics and KPIs improved right away.
Zūm CMX gives us so much visibility and insight into what's happening in our school transportation. We can see ahead of time that a bus is running late, track that route, and proactively adjust it to make sure it arrives on time. Parents are able to track their bus and get real time ETAs, so they know exactly where their child's bus is at. The software and the technology are great, but the real value is the peace of mind and communication that they provide.
Zūm just brought the overall student mobility operation and the experience to a whole new level. Zūm really focuses on the entire experience not just for the students, but for the school districts as a whole. They completely full-circled the operation by improving communication with families and with us. They also offered us a full EV system that really put the cherry on top of the entire operation. It was a no-brainer to choose Zūm.
Zūm's proven track record, along with its enhanced communication and equity-focused decision making, has greatly benefited our students, families, and drivers in Kansas City. We appreciate their commitment to safety, efficiency, transparency, and student-centered approach, and have been excited to partner with them.
