After nine years under contract with D.S. Bus Lines, the Shawnee Mission School District signed a new bus contract with Zūm — a ten-year old busing company based in Redwood City, California — on Feb. 24, for the 2026-2027 school year.
The seven-year, $21 million per year contract comes with an $18 million up-front cost for SMSD compared to DS Bus Lines’ contract of $12.7 million per year, according to a KSHB news article.
Zūm plans to hire 168 bus drivers, 99 attendants and 16 van drivers, as well as outfitting a brand-new fleet of approximately 180 buses, according to the Johnson County Post.
SMSD Deputy Superintendent Dr. David Stubblefield stated that Zūm’s mission aligns with SMSD’s core values, according to a press release from Zūm.
“We treat student transportation as an extension of the classroom here in Shawnee Mission School District,” Stubblefield said. “It is a foundational component of educational access. Zūm’s mission goes beyond simply moving students from Point A to Point B, and their commitment to keeping students at the center of their service aligns seamlessly with Shawnee Mission’s guiding theme.”
The new fleet will reflect Zūm’s goal of providing families with safe and reliable busing. Much like Uber, the Zūm buses will have an app to track where the buses are at all times.
Parents will also be able to see when kids get on and off the bus thanks to Zūm’s radio frequency identification card tracking system.
SM East parent Lorel Brown explained that all three of her kids have been taking the SMSD buses under DS Bus Lines since 2017, and they weren’t always reliable.
“I think [D.S. Bus Lines] struggled to keep consistent drivers and enough drivers,” Lorel said. “As a result, we've had a lot of late buses and either kids being stuck on the bus for a long time waiting to get home or just waiting outside in the cold. The new bus company, their satisfaction ratings and their on-time percentage all sound like an improvement.”
Lorel’s youngest daughter, Nora, a freshman at SM East, has been taking the bus since seventh grade — always without air conditioning.
Now, with Zūm managing SMSD’s transportation, all buses will be equipped with air conditioning as well as higher reliability ratings, according to Glassdoor.
“At the start of the year, it was like in the 80s, and there's no cold air. All they have is windows open,” Nora said. “A lot of us were definitely really hot by the time we either came to school or got home. It's extremely hot in the bus, even when it’s a bit warm outside, all the warmth gets caught into the bus. A lot of people on my bus are definitely upset about the fact that we're all struggling with the weather.”
SMSD is now the first school district in Kansas for which Zūm manages transportation. With a $1.3 billion valuation, self-valued after $350 million investments by SoftBank and Sequoia Capital, Zūm now manages $1.5 billion worth of contracts in 4,000 districts across 15 states, according to CNBC.
Founder and CEO of Zūm, Ritu Narayan, built Zūm to improve parents’ feelings around busing systems, according to a press release from Zūm.
“For decades, student transportation has relied on systems that were never designed for the expectations of today’s families,” Narayan said. “With Shawnee Mission joining us, Kansas becomes our 15th state, underscoring the growing demand from districts nationwide for a better, more modern transportation model.”
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