Philly parents will be able to track some school buses in real time - for the first time ever

Coming soon to some Philadelphia school bus stops: technology that allows parents and schools to track their kids — and their buses — via an app, in real time.

That represents a sea change for families on up to 200 yellow bus routes throughout the city.

Most Philadelphia school buses are decidedly analog — some companies still provide written turn-by-turn directions for drivers, rather than equip buses with GPS. Families generally have no information on when their buses might show up.

But the district recently selected Zum Inc., a Silicon Valley-based tech-and-transportation company, as one of its vendors, awarding it part of a massive $483 million contract for yellow bus services through 2031. Zum, which runs routes in 18 states and 6,500 districts nationwide, including Los Angeles Unified, Kansas City, Mo., Howard County, Md., and Boston, will operate at least 200 Philadelphia routes, though exact figures and contract totals have not yet been settled.

With its new, five-year contracts, awarded in April, the district dropped Durham School Services, a longtime vendor that had experienced some service and other issues amid a national bus-driver shortage.

Students who live more than 1.5 miles from their assigned school are eligible for free transportation from the district.

The school system transports only a fraction of its own elementary school students via district-owned yellow buses; the rest of the routes are serviced by providers that now include Zum.

Philadelphia students in grades seven through 12 who are eligible for transportation to school are issued SEPTA passes.

Zum, which has hired a number of former Durham drivers, is hoping to attract workers with competitive pay — drivers’ hourly rate starts at $30 per hour, and bus monitor pay at $20 per hour — and benefits.

Route assignments have not yet been announced, so it is not clear which yellow bus routes will have Zum buses.

Zum officials promise a different experience before students even step onto a bus, said Missy Lash, the company’s senior location manager for Pennsylvania.

“It’s comfort — but it’s also technology,” Lash said.

Families whose children are assigned to Zum routes will be encouraged to download a free app that gives them real-time notifications and information about their child’s bus — who the driver is, when the bus will arrive, when their child is dropped off at school and arrives at the bus stop in the afternoon.

The tablet computer mounted at the driver’s fingertips provides directions, but also the location of each individual student’s pickup point and, if families choose to share them, student photos that help drivers identify whom they are picking up.

When they step onto the bus, children either scan Zum-provided IDs or provide their names, which the driver types in. Once they do, parents receive a notification — your child has been picked up.

“They’ll also get a notification when my child gets dropped off at school,” or if there’s traffic and the time of pickup or arrival is adjusted, Lash said.

On the comfort piece, all Zum buses are air-conditioned — not a given system-wide. Only buses that transport students with disabilities must have guaranteed air-conditioning.

That is a big upgrade for drivers and students, said Nicole Dukes, who worked as a driver and trainer with another bus company in Philadelphia for six years before switching over to Zum, where she will train drivers.

“Just the buses themselves make you want to come to work,” said Dukes, who lives in North Philadelphia. “I never had air-conditioning on a bus.”

The technology is also a plus, Dukes said — “it’s great to have that for the parents to keep an eye on their children,” and having tablets providing directions is a serious improvement over her old system.

“We had turn-by-turn sheets, and if you had to go a different way, you had to call dispatch, who had a map,” Dukes said.