A gentle breeze is rolling down the streets—silent, efficient, and perfectly timed. A brand-new bus company is hitting the road, bringing a wave of modern upgrades aimed at elevating everyday commutes. Public transportation is evolving, and this is just the beginning. Buckle up—your journey just got smarter.
In a press release on Mar. 17, 2025, Millard Public Schools announced that it had started a four-year contract with Zum, an American student transportation service company.
“We are excited about our partnership with Zum,” Millard Superintendent Dr. John Schwartz said in the press release. “Zum offers several unique features that will improve [transportation services]. Through our partnership, families will now be able to track their child’s ride. Additionally, the buses will be new, will include air conditioning, and will also be propane, which is the most reliable during the winter months.”
The current contract with Student Transportation of America has expired, and MPS sent out an RFP, or Request for Proposal, which is a document used by a school district or public transportation to obtain proposals from potential bus transportation providers, as well as for other services. These RFPs outline the school’s needs and requirements for bus services, allowing interested companies to submit thorough proposals detailing how they would meet those needs.
“The routing software that they [the buses] have is very robust, and so our [staff’s] hope is that students will be able to track their rides much more easily without calling anyone. Parents can see exactly where their kid is at or how far their bus is away,” Executive Director of Activities, Athletics and External Engagement Chad Zimmerman said.
Students can check in by scanning their ID, which will show students’ location. If students forget their IDs, the buses will provide tablets that students can check in on as well to give an accurate depiction of who is on the bus at what time.
“Our hope is that it’s a better customer experience. Students start and end their day often on a school bus, so we want to make sure that experience positively starts their day and positively ends their day,” said Zimmerman. “We hope to give some comfort to parents and reassurance to parents so their student is either arriving at school or on their way home.”
Zum held a school bus driver hiring event on Mar. 25 and 26 at the Marriott Courtyard. Zum planned on hiring 70 drivers and 29 attendants for 64 routes, as stated in the same press release.
“We are honored to partner with Millard Public Schools, a district that has been recognized for its academic excellence and engaged student population,” Ritu Narayan, founder and CEO of Zum, said in the press release. “We are excited to launch this partnership in the 2025-26 school year and provide greater visibility and transparency to parents, students, drivers, and schools.”
Zum offers the ability for parents to rate their child’s ride. This was one of the main aspects that stood out to Millard. Among all the districts they served, they achieved an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars.
“Zum collects all that data, and if there are any concerns, they have a department to respond to parents to address that concern. It gives us a lot of comfort that the service they are providing is very good,” said Zimmerman.
Besides working with the Millard Public Schools district, Zum works with Omaha Public Schools, another local public school district. In general, the company works with about 30 districts across the country, although Zum is relatively new in the Midwest.
“We had the opportunity to visit OPS and their leadership to determine how that transition went for them this year, and they felt like it made a huge positive difference in the quality of service they were able to provide,” Zimmerman said. “It was helpful for us to understand that and to be able to use them [the OPS school district] as a resource as we had other questions based on their [Zum’s] performance.”
In addition to efficiency, Millard will take an environmentally friendly initiative with Zum. As referred to before, Zum buses use propane. Propane operates more efficiently than diesel, mainly by reducing harmful emissions.
“If the electrical infrastructure becomes readily available, that will be something that we will consider. Potentially transitioning to electric buses, right now, the infrastructure isn’t there, so we will continue to use propane buses, which gives us the best opportunity to serve the community in all kinds of weather.” Zimmerman said.
This collaboration between the school and the district is designed to strengthen the overall quality for students and parents. As the partnership develops, it could become a valuable model for other districts seeking to enhance their transportation services.