St. Louis Public Schools to sign Zum Services as new transportation vendor
ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) is turning to a California-based tech startup to help solve its ongoing transportation issues.
The St. Louis Public School District school board has approved a new transportation partner for the district. The move comes after years of transportation struggles for SLPS with bus driver shortages and last-minute cancellations leaving families frustrated.
According to our reporting partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the district is moving forward with a plan to bring in Zum Services Inc.; it's a company already working in cities like Los Angeles and Kansas City. The new fleet of buses will include several features, including real-time tracking for families.
The district has experienced several transportation issues this year because of a driver shortage and losing several bus service providers. Now, the school board is hoping to change that.
This week, SLPS approved a proposal for Zum to take over 220 bus routes across the city for 30 million dollars a year but this won't happen overnight. SLPS is still reportedly negotiating a contract with Zum.
List: The more than 500 JOANN stores expected to close amid second bankruptcy filing
According to the company, they plan to start drivers at 28 dollars an hour with benefits. They've already seen success in Kansas City, where Zum buses had a 98 percent on-time rate in their first year. That's much better than what St. Louis students and parents have dealt with.
Some families said cab companies refused to pick up students when snow hit our area, exposing more cracks in the district's current transportation plan.
Zum is working to transition its national fleet to electric and SLPS is still waiting on 60 electric buses paid for by federal grants but with a federal spending freeze in place, their arrival date is uncertain.
SLPS leaders will begin contract negotiations with the tech start-up soon. If everything proceeds as planned, these new buses could be available by next fall.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Loving Giving Local: Rhoxon Productions
Movie enthusiasts will benefit from this week's Loving Giving Local donation. A local movie production company that sponsors a film festival is this week's recipient. Rhoxon Productions got a financial gift from Auto Express Resale Center. Rhoxon is an Erie-based non-profit independent film company that creates organic stories that promote a positive change. Besides creating art, Rhoxon strives to create jobs and educational opportunities in the film industry. 'Our last few projects have been about healing and about coping, and our next two are about revamping the social justice system,' said Katie Nixon, RhoxonProductions co-founder. 'That's sort of our creative endeavors, and we also create educational opportunities for people to learn how to do this professionally.' Nixon says Rhoxon has a vision of creating 50 new jobs in the film industry here. And she insists you no longer have to be on the East or West Coast to have a film career. 'No, the landscape has changed so much. Even Netflix has created their new studio out in Jersey. It's not just that you have be in New York or LA,' she explained. 'Erie is kinda a really interesting place. You have beach, you have woods, you have city, you have country all within 15 minutes of each other.' That landscape diversity, Nixon said, makes Northwest Pennsylvania the perfect place for shooting movies. This week's Loving Giving Local donation will help support an upcoming film festival. Nixon said, 'We started the only multi-genre film festival here in Erie. It's the Lake Effect Film Festival, which will be in September. So that money will go to help make that event possible.' After making his check presentation, Joe Askins of Auto Express Resale Center said, 'We're pretty fortunate to have Rhoxon in our community and they're already doing great things. So for us to be able to deliver loving giving local and to learn the donation we bring is going toward their film festival, that's what Loving Giving Local is all about,' Askins said. You can learn more about the film festival and Rhoxon's work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rockford hydroelectric project aims to power five homes with clean energy
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A Rockford-based company wants to harness the Rock River to produce energy to power homes. Latitude Power of Rockford partnered with design firm Studio GWA to create a pilot project that would use hydroelectric generators to create enough clean energy to supply electricity to five homes. 'Essentially, it takes wasted energy that's either flowing over a dam, or anywhere water is falling,' said Jared Cacciatore, Latitude Power co-founder. Rockford's Fordam dam will soon become the pilot program's test site, where a micro hydroelectric generator will be installed. 'We can take that water, that which is potential energy, and turn it into mechanical energy through a turbine and a generator, and then turn that into, you know, electrical energy,' Cacciatore said. Latitude Power received state funding through Illinois' Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) to help develop the project. 'The company here won a nearly $1 million grant to produce hydroelectric power and uses the Rock River to generate electricity, which is a great concept. The Rock River has been a huge asset for this area, so it seems to be the next step in using this asset to generate clean power and provide electricity throughout the area,' said Sen. Steve Stadelman (D-Rockford). Latitude has already done smaller-scale testing, but moving to the Rock River means new challenges. 'It performs pretty, pretty well at the wastewater plant. But this is a new environment. It's a new, you know, there are new challenges. Will it will it be safe from vandalism? Will we be safe from other things we haven't thought of?' Cacciatore said. The company hopes the pilot project will generate enough electricity to power five homes. If successful, it plans to scale up from there. 'We want to help to help Rockford become a beacon of clean energy, a beacon of collaborative community involvement and advocacy for each other and for for the community and for the the greater good for the planet,' Cacciatore said. Once the grant funding is in place, Latitude hopes to have the project done within 18-20 months. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US Appeals Court Confirms Patent Validity of Acadia's Parkinson's Medication
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) is among the 13 Biotech Stocks with Huge Upside Potential. It declared that the U.S. Court of Appeals maintained the legality of its composition of matter patent for the medication Nuplazid, which treats psychosis in Parkinson's disease. A research scientist looking through a microscope in a lab, symbolizing the biopharmaceutical company's innovative approach to medical treatments. The verdict supports ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) in its legal struggle with India-based MSN Laboratories and upholds a December 2023 ruling by the U.S. District Court of Delaware. A later patent claim with the same priority date cannot be declared invalid by the court. According to CEO Catherine Owen Adams, Nuplazid's patent protection has been extended to 2030. The 34 mg capsule is also protected by a separate formulation patent that runs through 2038. The U.S. FDA authorized Nuplazid in 2016 to treat delusions and hallucinations linked to psychosis in Parkinson's disease. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD)'s legal stance in a different action against Aurobindo Pharma was further strengthened by the latest decision. When taken as a whole, these results solidify the company's portfolio of intellectual property in the face of generic competition, guaranteeing prolonged market exclusivity for its flagship neurological medication. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) is a biopharmaceutical firm that specializes in the creation and marketing of medications that treat uncommon diseases and disorders of the central nervous system. While we acknowledge the potential of ACAD as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 10 High-Growth EV Stocks to Invest In and 13 Best Car Stocks to Buy in 2025. Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
