After three decades with Student Transportation of America, Santa Barbara elementary students will notice a new transportation service next year with new drivers and a modern take on the school bus.

In January, the Santa Barbara Unified School District board awarded a five-year transportation contract to Zum Services for student transportation.

Zum’s proposal was less money than STA’s, and district leaders said they were drawn to the data and technological components of Zum.

Zum was started in 2014 by Ritu Narayan, who was working full time and found it frustrating trying to ensure her kids got to school and got picked up safely every day. 

“The system hasn’t changed in 80 years,” Narayan said. “Very little technology has touched this area.”

Narayan said that when speaking to parents they often felt in the dark about their child’s safety and location. 

“Parents used to say to us, ‘Hey, I can track my pizza, I can track my Amazon package, but once my kids are on the school bus I have no idea where they are or where the school bus is,’” Narayan said. 

Zum has a cloud-based technology platform for parents, drivers and the district to see bus routes, bus locations and student information. 

Kim Hernandez, Santa Barbara Unified’s assistant superintendent of business services, told the school board that the administration selected Zum’s bid largely because of the technological and data components. Student Transportation of America was the only other bidder for the transportation contract. 

For now, it’s unclear whether bus routes will change, but the district will develop that plan in the next few months and notify parents in the summer, according to school district spokesman Ed Zuchelli.

Starting next school year, each SBUSD student will have a card that they use to get on and off the bus, and parents will have an app that allows them to see when their students arrive at school. After every ride, parents will be able to rate their child’s experience out of five stars.

If a student loses their card, drivers can check them on and off the bus and parents will be able to request a replacement card through the app. 

“Anytime there is a three or less rating, I personally get an email and my top executives get an email about it and we call the parent, we call the driver and we find out what happened to make sure the issue is resolved forever,” Narayan said. 

Each driver will have a tablet that will allow them to see each student’s name, picture, grade, and specific instructions if a student needs assistance on the bus. 

STA Loses Bus Transportation Contract After 30 Years

The change in transportation provider leaves STA drivers and staff unsure about their future in Santa Barbara. For many, it means that a job they’ve had and loved for years is changing. 

Junita Abrego has been a school bus driver in Santa Barbara for 27 years. She’s received awards for safe driving and has watched countless students grow up. Abrego said the contract change is scary for her and her family and leaves her future uncertain. 

“I’m scared. I have three kids to support,” Abrego said. “I feel like I’m losing part of my family.” 

Abrego said she and other STA drivers and staff don’t understand why the district gave Zum the contract when STA has decades of experience compared to Zum’s nearly 10 years of experience.

Abrego said if she switched to working at Zum she would get less hours and pay than she gets at her current position. She said she currently gets six guaranteed hours of work a day while Zum offers five guaranteed hours a day for drivers.

“We can’t even have another part-time job because routes are two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. How are we supposed to apply for a part-time job?” Abrego said. 

“STA was trying to do the right thing and give their employees more money in their hourly wages,” Jed Johnson, Teamsters 186 business representative, told the school board during public comment on Jan. 30. “Technology sometimes fails, apps sometimes fail; 32 years of loyalty from STA — that’s reliable, that doesn’t fail.”

Zum’s Plans for Taking On SBUSD Contract

Many of Zum’s drivers have years to decades of experience, Narayan said. The company often hires CDL-certified drivers and has training programs for new drivers that it hires. 

Narayan said the first preference is to hire local drivers for Santa Barbara, and Zum held a hiring event in Goleta at the end of February.

Narayan said Zum is working toward electrifying school buses. It will be working with the district and state officials to develop a plan in the next five years to transition the school bus fleet to electric vehicles.