Washington, DC: Heather Boushey, the chief economist for the Invest in America Cabinet at the White House, commended Zum, a firm founded by Indian immigrant Ritu Narayan for its student transportation modernization and sustainability efforts.
Boushey, who visited the firm’s San Francisco bus yard on March 4, toured Zum’s state-of-the-art facilities, took a ride on one of its electric buses, and met with leadership, including founder and CEO Narayan.
The firm uses technology especially AI to manage a private school bus fleet. It provides school districts a sustainable and cost-effective way to handle their bus routes. Zum currently serves more than 4,000 U.S. schools in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.
It recently received a $26 million grant through the Biden administration’s first Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition to help school district partners electrify their school bus fleets. With the grant, the firm aims to further its goal of transitioning San Francisco Unified School District and Oakland Unified
School District to fully electric fleets by the end of the 2026-2027 school year.
“We were honored to host Heather Boushey to demonstrate how Zum’s proprietary technology is transforming the $50 billion student transportation industry providing a revolutionary connected platform, increased safety and a commitment to equity and sustainability,” Narayan said.
“Since day one of this administration, President Biden has committed to growing the economy from the middle-out and bottom-up… rebuilding our infrastructure, lowering costs, and creating opportunities for families, workers, and small businesses. The EPA’s Clean School Bus Program Grants
Competition will boost our economy, create good-paying jobs, and improve air quality for children and their families,” Boushey maintained.
The White House official also participated in a roundtable discussion on the importance of the acceleration of the transition to electric school buses with Zum leadership and other dignitaries during her site visit.
