ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke City Public Schools have made significant strides in addressing their transportation challenges. After experiencing initial setbacks, the district is now successfully ensuring students arrive at school on time.
The improvements in transportation have been a relief for many parents who recall the struggles at the beginning of the school year.
Sara Dollman, a parent, shared her initial concerns: “It felt pretty hopeless at the beginning of the year, looking at Zum’s track record through Google searches and things like that, it did not sound like the company had it together any better than Durham, so it’s been a pleasant surprise that it seems to have smoothed out and everything seems to be going well this year.”
The partnership with Zum, which started off rocky with delays and app issues, has seen a turnaround.
Midway through the school year, officials report that operations are running much more efficiently. The five-year, $77 million dollar contract replaces Durham Transportation, the company the city previously used for bus transportation.
Chris Perkins, chief operations officer for Roanoke City Public Schools, highlighted the improvement: “We went to about a 70% on-time arrival rate to a little over 97%, almost 98% arrival rate.” Perkins attributes this success to a combination of strategies, including reducing the number of stops by creating community stops, adjusting the schedule, and collaborating with Zum.
Perkins explained, “He took over 10 thousand stops and reduced that to 21 hundred approximate stops, and that changes because we have mandated requirements.”
John Gray, location manager for Zum Services, noted that they have exceeded their capacity, which has contributed to the improved punctuality. “So for our staff right now it’s about 140 drivers; for our attendants, it’s about 57 attendants. We are actually slightly over in both cases,” Gray said.
For parents like Dollman, the relief is palpable. “I’m just glad that at least for me we are not dealing with that stress anymore. Hopefully, no other parents have to deal with that either, especially little kids. It’s terrifying. I feel bad for parents that have to deal with that.”
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