Hill and Wen agreed that technology tracking and
communicating bus delays is especially helpful given ongoing driver shortages that can mean more delays. “We provide monthly reports to all board members as
to on-time arrivals, exported to a spreadsheet, so board members can look at their area and see what buses are regularly late and how late,” said Wen. “It keeps them informed, so when parents call them to complain, they have an idea what’s going on in their area.”
Boston Baked Solution Boston Public Schools is in its third year using an
integrated service from Zum that combines routing and dispatch software and student tracking for its fleet of about 750 buses. Drivers use tablets showing turn- by-turn directions and student lists with photos, which helps them log students on. The affiliated parent app provides tracking as well as push notifications when a bus is running late or a student gets on or off. This replaces robocalls and texts that were sent manually when a bus was running late, usually “slightly behind the eight ball” as Executive Director of Transportation Dan Rosengard said. Previously, the district used separate companies plus an in-house website for routing, tracking and parent notification. The integration has been successful after an
initial learning curve, said Rosengard. “It was really im- portant to us to understand and have clearly articulated the vision for where we were trying to get to, and make sure we had stakeholder buy-in across our families, ven- dor and drivers,” he added. The district performed significant parent outreach in
advance of the transition, including emails with detailed instructions on downloading and using the Zum app, and open houses to help parents do so. “We were making sure at every touch point we had
with families, we were communicating this change was coming,” Rosengard said, adding that now, about 85 percent of families are using the app. Helping drivers get used to the routing technology
also involves ongoing engagement. “Prior to this, our drivers were using paper directions.
We made sure that 100 percent of drivers received train- ing on the technology before the initial implementation,” said Rosengard. “Every single day we and our vendor are looking at the data for which trips, if any, did not use the tablet for the ride. That allows us to go back and under- stand what happened. It could be a mechanical failure of the device. It could be a situation where coaching or other interventions are needed.” Previously, if a different bus than usual was assigned
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www.gobeacon.com Beacon Mobility. Because EVERY ride matters. 56 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2026
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