"This new survey shows that most parents are looking for increased safety and transparency on the school bus, as well as healthier, more sustainable rides for their children," said Ritu Narayan, CEO and Founder of Zum. "I founded Zum to solve these problems and improve student transportation for all families, schools, drivers and communities. The time for change is now – and, as Zum partners with school districts across the U.S., I'm proud to say that change is here."
Other findings from the survey:
- Environmental concerns – 80% of parents surveyed expressed concern about environmental issues that stem from the harmful fumes that diesel school buses emit into our communities. 64% said they believe it is important to convert diesel school buses to electric, an increase from 52% in 2023.
- Demand for tech-enabled solutions – Most parents surveyed are interested in using a mobile app for student transportation: 81% said they would use a mobile app to stay informed of their child's location on the school bus, and 83% said they'd use a mobile app to know their child's bus arrival time, similar to tracking an Uber driver's arrival.
- Reliability and transparency – More than half of respondents (53%) said their child has missed the school bus because they did not know when it was arriving. Out of those who don't use the school bus to transport their children, 40% said they would reconsider if they could track their child's arrival and departure.
- Safety first – When asked to name their biggest concern about their child while riding the school bus, the majority of parents said safety, which was also the top concern in 2022 and 2023. The second-biggest concern was lack of tracking or visibility (i.e. not knowing if or when their child gets on or off the bus).
- Better treatment for drivers – 70% of parents surveyed said they think teachers and school bus drivers should receive better compensation. 40% say they believe being a school bus driver is one of the most underappreciated jobs in this country.
- Impact on families – Nearly half of parents surveyed say their ability to work or perform well at their job has been impacted by school transportation issues for their children, an increase from 2023. 43% say their child has been negatively impacted by unnecessarily long bus commutes or failures in the school bus system.
The full commissioned survey, Zum's 2024's Student Transportation Report Card, is available here.
Methodology
All data found within this report are derived from a survey by Zum conducted online via survey platform Pollfish from June 26- 27, 2024. In total, 1,500 adult American parents with school-aged children were surveyed.
About Zum:
Zum has modernized student transportation, the nation's largest mass transit system, and developed sustainable ways to charge the grid. Zum's robust operations and integrated end-to-end cloud-based platform provides a modern student transportation service for school districts purpose-built around the needs of kids and the expectations of modern families. Zum provides one seamless, real-time interface for parents, drivers, schools, districts, administrators, and operators to transport children safely and with increased visibility and personalized care. Always investing in the wellbeing of communities, Zum is also the only carbon neutral student transportation provider in the nation with plans to go Net Zero with its transition to EV electric buses. Zum is available nationwide, serving more than 4,000 schools across the U.S. Learn more at www.ridezum.com.
CONTACT:
Jenny Mayfield, Vice President of Communications - [email protected]
SOURCE Zūm
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