Boston school bus tracking app has skipped stops, made students late

BOSTON - The Boston Public Schools department was hoping a new bus-tracking app would improve service this year. Instead, it's been a rocky ride for students and parents. But the city says it has a plan to get back on track.

Zum bus-tracking app troubles

Superintendent Mary Skipper said about 6,000 families had signed up for the Zum app. It allows parents to track their child's bus, get alerts when there are delays, and it lets a driver know if a student won't be taking the bus that day.

But nearly two weeks into the new year, some children are coming home from school more than an hour late and others never see the bus come at all. The district said these are growing pains that will eventually be worked out.

"All of a sudden, it just skipped [my son's] stop. I got him there 25 minutes late," Cheryl Buckman told WBZ-TV. Her son, Landon, has autism, and "if his schedule is jilted in any way, it sets him up for a whole epic failure of a day and makes it harder for his teachers to get in rhythm."

Buckman is one of many parents using the Zūm app. She said t6he launch has not gone well for parents.

"I have heard a couple of those in here [getting dropped off at] 7 o'clock at night, but the latest I have seen my child is maybe 3:30 p.m.," said Buckman.

Terry Delehanty is having issues with her grandsons getting home.

"Last week, one time he was supposed to be home at 5:05 p.m. He didn't get home until 6:18 p.m.," Delehanty told WBZ. "Let me put it to you this way, last week was all a complete mess up."

Delehanty says one of her grandchildren wasn't picked up one morning, and Buckman was kind enough to get an Uber ride for the child.

"Last Tuesday, the bus didn't get here until 8:15, and thank God my great-grandson's mom is here, or he wouldn't have gone to school," said Delehanty.

Boston Schools response

The district said the system is improving daily and that it needs weeks of data to fully understand Boston's roads. The data could be used to create the best routes and workloads for the drivers. BPS is planning a large data dump into the system from Tuesday into Wednesday.

"For the drivers, in the beginning, there was certainly a learning curve for them. Sometimes, they were pressing things that either terminated the route or began the route early, which led to data being low," Skipper said Tuesday. "We are constantly going over routes that are late so we can understand where the error happened."

Skipper said 98% of drivers are now consistently using the app and 90% of the rides are arriving within a 15-minute window of when they are expected. The district implemented the new system because 90% percent of buses were on time last year and administrators thought this new technology would improve the remaining 10% and increase safety.

"Over time, this is the way to guarantee safety. Before, we never knew which individual student was actually getting on and off the bus at which stop, but now they know - student by student. They have to submit the names, and parents can submit pictures, so they can recognize them," said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

"Once you have that information, it makes a big, big difference to see exactly when the student will be dropped in at the bus stop."