Boston Public Faculties mother and father will be capable of observe their youngsters’s faculty buses in real-time within the upcoming faculty 12 months utilizing a new cell app.
“With the Zum app, mother and father and guardians can view their scholar’s bus project, observe bus rides in real-time, obtain computerized delay notifications and alerts when the buses are arriving, and get notified when the coed will get on and off the bus,” BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper stated in a committee assembly.
BPS is piloting the “built-in transportation platform” this summer time, permitting mother and father and guardians to trace their baby’s upcoming rides on the Zum app. Paper instructions for bus drivers are additionally being changed with GPS navigation.
By the tip of the primary week, practically 90% of bus drivers have been in a position to efficiently use the Zum system whereas finishing their routes, in accordance with Skipper.
The brand new system comes as a a lot wanted replace to handle years of scrutiny relating to BPS’s transportation woes. BPS has had a cell monitoring app for years, however mother and father reported points utilizing it.
Government Director of Transportation for BPS Dan Rosengard stated within the assembly that the earlier system had been “fully reactive.”
“The one method we knew {that a} bus was working late was if the motive force reported it or a father or mother referred to as in,” he stated.
Now, the brand new expertise permits the transportation operations crew to reply extra shortly to delays.
“We’re nonetheless studying with the system and determining precisely how we’ll use this data to enhance our operations,” Rosengard stated. “It offers us much more real-time data that we didn’t have earlier than so we are able to swap from a reactive mindset to a proactive mindset.”
Rosengard stated he expects there to be a studying curve with the software program within the fall, particularly as the college system provides tons of of extra buses — going from 200 buses through the summer time to 640 on the highway within the fall.
The BPS transportation division will even monitor ridership by monitoring college students that faucet on and off the bus to “enhance the effectivity of routes,” he stated.
About 3,000 college students are utilizing BPS transportation in the summertime months, and Skipper stated she is working to guarantee that bus drivers know learn how to use the system as the autumn approaches.
“We’re working to make sure that all bus drivers and transportation workers obtain mandatory coaching and help to efficiently make the most of the platform previous to the beginning of the [2024]-25 faculty 12 months,” she stated. “We’re dedicated to bettering transparency, reliability, and comfort for college kids and households who use the BPS faculty buses.”
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