Saint Louis Public Schools (SLPS) has officially awarded a three-year transportation contract to Zūm, the leader in modern student transportation.
Under the agreed terms, Zūm will help the district deliver superior service built around the needs of SLPS students and families, along with the teachers, administrators, and drivers committed to creating the best educational experience for children.
More on that would reveal how Zūm will be covering 220 routes for SLPS and will be hosting school bus driver hiring events on Tuesday, March 4; Wednesday, March 5; and Thursday, March 6, 2025; at the Courtyard St. Louis Downtown West (2340 Market St., St. Louis, MO 63103) from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. CT. To cover all those routes, the company is also set to hire an estimated 242 drivers and 55 attendants.
Talk about what made Zūm made an ideal candidate for such an effort, the answer resides in its track-record of serving school districts with a focus on technology, sustainability, and customer service. The company’s model, at the moment; integrates state-of-the-art school buses with data-driven routing, driver tracking and enhanced safety measures so to offer families real-time updates through a mobile app.
Prior to St. Louis, Zūm has been providing turnkey modern transportation solutions to school districts across California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Utah, and Virginia.
The company’s excellence in what it does can also be understood once you consider it is featured among Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas, CNBC Disruptor 50, CNBC Changemakers, World Economic Forum, and Financial Times’ Fastest Growing Companies.
“Ensuring that our students arrive at school safely, on time, and ready to learn is a top priority for Saint Louis Public Schools,” said Dr. Millicent Borishade, Interim Superintendent of SLPS. “Through our partnership with Zūm, we are embracing a transportation model that prioritizes safety, equity and innovation. This collaboration will provide families with greater visibility into their child’s ride to and from school while also improving operational efficiency for our district.”
A deeper lowdown of Zūm’s technology would reveal its safe, reliable, and industry-leading nature . You see, the company’s end-to-end platform can effectively unify parents, students, school and district administrators, and drivers on a single juncture with role-based access that improves safety, communication, transparency, and efficiency for all stakeholders.
Not just that, leveraging the Zūm app, parents can also receive real-time data and notifications about their child’s school bus location, pickup and drop-off status, as well as a profile of their child’s bus driver and vehicle information. Beyond that, the company will provide administrators with real-time data and performance reports to optimize routes and reduce student ride times, facilitating transparent, data-driven decisions regarding student transportation.
Another detail worth a mention here is rooted in the availability of well-trained and certified drivers. Thanks to Zūm’s proprietary safety technology, driver training and certification program called SafeGuard, all drivers meet and exceed all state and federal requirements. They are also trained on and required to adhere to specific protocols for picking up or dropping off students.
Offering drivers everything from competitive pay, flexibility, and modern benefits, (including medical, dental, vision, and 401K benefits). Zūm has markedly empowered their partner districts to overcome obstacles in the face of a nationwide driver shortage.
Among other things, we ought to mention how Zūm will able to bring state-of-the-art buses and facilities. Hence, SLPS students and drivers will experience new, air-conditioned buses, enjoying top-of-the-line equipment and technology designed to enhance their safety and comfort, while simultaneously making drivers’ day-to-day jobs easier.
“We are delighted to partner with Saint Louis Public Schools, a district that shares Zūm’s vision of a future where student transportation advances equity, accessibility and student-centered transportation solutions,” said Ritu Narayan, Founder and CEO at Zūm. “We look forward to working with families in the SLPS community and encourage all those interested in driving, both experienced and new, for Zūm to apply and attend our upcoming hiring events.”
