Boston Public Schools said transportation updates are happening after late buses have caused frustrations among parents.
Wednesday at Higginson-Lewis School in Roxbury, Superintendent Mary Skipper said they will be updating the routes for buses every Tuesday night to try an improve their arrival times.
One issue they point out is there are three waves of drop offs.
Depending on where each school is and the traffic in those areas, the third wave might have the issue of being on time.
Mayor Michelle Wu saw firsthand how the updated bus routes are working.
The bus she was on with Superintendent Skipper had an arrival goal of 9:15 AM but got to Higginson-Lewis school at 9:36 AM.
Still, they said it’s an improvement from where it was.
The Superintendent said route changes make a difference, and the Zum app gets smarter with each update, embracing technology and AI.
Parents can also help by using the app and marking if their child won’t be on the bus so the driver isn’t waiting from them at the stop.
Instead, it will remove them from the route that day.
Superintendent Skipper said parents are right to say they want their kids at school on time but added sometimes they take one step back to take two steps forward.
“This is a historic issue, right? This isn’t a last year or the year before. This has always been the case with the buses here. We’re striving to close that gap so we can actually get closer to all students arriving on time,” said Skipper.
Skipper also said they’ll keep making little tweaks to the app.
So far parents of 13,000 students have signed up for the Zum app but more than 20-thousand kids ride the bus.
One other issue they’re dealing with is afternoon pickups where teachers are having to stay late with students until the bus finally gets to the school buildings.
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