REDWOOD CITY, Calif.— Zūm, the leader in modern student
transportation, announced that today its first electric school buses have hit the road, transporting students across the Bay Area. The company has deployed six LionC electric school buses from Lion Electric, a leading North American manufacturer of zero-emission medium and heavy-duty vehicles, which are wnow rolling across San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), Menlo School and Nueva School.
Zum also announced that it has secured two grants for over 35 EV buses, which will allow it to build out the electric school bus ecosystem for OUSD even faster than initially expected. As a result, the company expects to service 50% of the district’s transportation with electric school buses by the end of the 2022-2023 school year.
“This marks an important point in our journey to lead the student transportation industry toward a zero emission future,” said Ritu Narayan, CEO and founder of Zum. “The U.S. school bus fleet is double the size of all other mass transit combined and is a major contributor to the nation’s carbon emissions. Our aim to make Zum’s entire fleet electric by 2025 is rooted in creating a safer, healthier and more sustainable planet for all.”
“We’re proud to have a partner in Zum who matches the district’s commitment of making the environment and communities our students live in cleaner and healthier,” said Kimberley Raney, Executive Director of Procurement, Transportation & Warehouse for OUSD. “With the introduction of the first Zum electric school bus at OUSD and grants secured for over 35 additional electric buses, we are thrilled to begin our school transportation fleet’s transition to electric and reach zero emission for half of our district transportation in the coming year.”
Over 90% of the nation’s 500,000 school buses run on diesel and emit 8.4 million metric tons of greenhouse gas annually equivalent to the annual energy use of more than one million homes. In addition to harming the planet, the pollution levels on diesel school buses are often five to 10 times higher than the surrounding areas, threatening the health of students and drivers.
The LionC school buses Zum is putting into service can travel up to 125 miles on a single charge without the harmful particulate pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution generated by diesel school buses. Electric school buses also offer districts and operators significant savings, with up to 60% reduced maintenance costs and 80% reduced energy costs. Each bus can eliminate up to 23 tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year. While Zum works with local partners to build out a comprehensive charging infrastructure, it has provided charging stations at each of the schools receiving an electric bus.
“Zero-emission school buses are pivotal in the transition to a zero-emission transportation sector, and offer significant health benefits to our children and communities,” said Brian Piern, Chief Commercial Officer at Lion Electric. “We are proud to play a part in this transition to a greener student transportation future through Zum’s work with Bay Area school districts and beyond and look forward to working together to put more buses on California roads.”
Each bus is equipped with the comprehensive Zum platform, which provides drivers with real-time route updates, helps districts manage daily operations, and gives families visibility and personalized updates about their children. Through its cloud-based technology and multi-modal approach, Zum delivers additional fleet efficiency and optimization which make widespread adoption of electric buses possible.
About Zūm:
Zūm has reimagined student transportation, the nation’s largest mass transit system. Our end-to-end cloud-based platform integrates with district fleets to provide a modern service that is purpose-built around the needs of kids and the expectations of their families. Zūm 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. Our multi-vehicle approach including electric vehicles, reduces student commute times by up to 20%, and coupled with our marketplace, delivers added fleet efficiency and optimization. We have been driving the industry forward since 2015, and with more than 8M miles completed today, we are leading a new era of safe, reliable, efficient, and sustainable transportation. Learn more at www.ridezum.com.
