Zūm
2024–present
I joined Zūm in April 2024 as design lead, and I’m still here, with more to design every year. Zūm runs student transportation for school districts across the US, and today it serves more than 7,500 schools.
I design for everyone who touches the ride to school: the yard and school operations teams who plan and run the day, the drivers on the bus, and the parents waiting at the stop. Zūm brings them together in one system, the Connected Mobility Experience, so a district, a driver and a parent all see the same bus at the same time.
Dispatch Control Center
The yard’s view of the morning. Every bus is on one map, marked on time, at risk or late. When a driver calls in sick or a bus runs behind, a dispatcher can assign a standby driver or split a run before a family notices.
The driver’s tablet
Drivers clock in on the tablet, see the day’s stops and follow turn-by-turn directions. Each stop shows who’s getting on, with a note for any student who needs help.
The parent app
Parents follow every ride, from the driver on the way to picked up and dropped off, with the bus on a live map. No more waiting at the stop and wondering.
Route Explorer
Where the school year gets planned: every student, school and run on one map. Problems come first, like a student without a ride or an address that changed, so they’re fixed before the first day.
Signing up for the bus
Families register on their phone, see right away whether their student is eligible, and get a ride. Once school starts, a tap of the student’s card on the bus tells the parent they’re on.
Going electric
Our buses are going electric, and in Oakland they already are. Drivers and the yard need to find a charger, plug in, and know when each bus is ready to go.
Home on time
The whole system is built for this moment: a student home on time, and a parent who knew exactly when.
Still going
There’s a lot more to come, and I’m excited for it.
More on how I got here in Back to work, and on why electric matters to me in Sustainability, in pixels.