ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) is turning to a California-based tech startup to help solve its ongoing transportation issues.
The St. Louis Public School District school board has approved a new transportation partner for the district. The move comes after years of transportation struggles for SLPS with bus driver shortages and last-minute cancellations leaving families frustrated.
According to our reporting partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the district is moving forward with a plan to bring in Zum Services Inc.; it’s a company already working in cities like Los Angeles and Kansas City. The new fleet of buses will include several features, including real-time tracking for families.
The district has experienced several transportation issues this year because of a driver shortage and losing several bus service providers. Now, the school board is hoping to change that.
This week, SLPS approved a proposal for Zum to take over 220 bus routes across the city for 30 million dollars a year but this won’t happen overnight. SLPS is still reportedly negotiating a contract with Zum.
According to the company, they plan to start drivers at 28 dollars an hour with benefits. They’ve already seen success in Kansas City, where Zum buses had a 98 percent on-time rate in their first year. That’s much better than what St. Louis students and parents have dealt with.
Some families said cab companies refused to pick up students when snow hit our area, exposing more cracks in the district’s current transportation plan.
Zum is working to transition its national fleet to electric and SLPS is still waiting on 60 electric buses paid for by federal grants but with a federal spending freeze in place, their arrival date is uncertain.
SLPS leaders will begin contract negotiations with the tech start-up soon. If everything proceeds as planned, these new buses could be available by next fall.