Rockford Parents Concerned After New Zum Video Surfaces

If you are a parent in the Rockford area, you probably remember the days when the biggest school transportation problem was your kid forgetting their backpack on the bus.

Now? Some RPS 205 parents are just hoping the bus shows up when it is supposed to.

RPS 205 Transportation Issues

In case you are unaware, the Rockford Public School District has enlisted Zum Transportation to help with student transportation this school year, and the transition has not exactly been smooth sailing.

Since the first day of school, parents have been reporting buses arriving late or early, inconsistent pickup times, problems with the Zum app, and even concerns about drivers.

Regarding the issues, Jordan Gordon, vice president at Zum Transportation, told mystateline.com:

We’ve been in active conversations with the district, working to identify what are causing the service related disruptions and ensuring that we implement the proper protocols and procedures to address those things in an efficient and timely manner, so that families also realize those improvements as well.

Zum Transportation held a community meeting earlier this week at RPS' The Quad campus to hear concerns from parents and will be working with RPS 205 to make improvements.

Zum has also said it uses real-time data to adjust routes and schedules and says on-time performance has improved by more than 10 percent since the first day of school.

But then a video surfaced that is probably going to make some Rockford parents even more nervous.

Rockford School Bus Video Raises More Questions

A video posted Monday, September 21, in the What's Happening in Rockford, IL Facebook group shows what appears to be a Zum vehicle, with children inside, approaching a railroad crossing as a train is coming and then stopping as the crossing arm comes down on the vehicle.

Obviously, a video clip doesn't provide the entire story, and I don't want to pretend we know exactly what was happening inside that vehicle or what led up to the situation, but as a parent, what I am seeing is not okay.

Hopefully, the issues with RPS 205 and Zum's transportation system continue to improve. Parents have enough to worry about in the morning without wondering whether the school bus is going to show up on time, find the right route, or successfully beat an oncoming train with their children inside.