The Omaha Public School District is taking a new approach to customer service after busing crisis of 2016.
Student transportation call center operators are prepared to take calls from parents who are having issues with pickup and drop-offs. They've teamed up with North End Teleservices who will help handle peak call hours in the morning and afternoon to get parents immediate information and quick results.
"We have access to the GPS services so we have access to the bus locations in a real time environment. In addition to that we have other systems that we're using that will allow us to take information from parents and it can immediately go to an appropriate department if there are other notifications that need to be made," said Carmen Tapio, President of North End Teleservices.
Parents can call 531-299-0140 with questions or concerns on transportation.
Last fall, about 3,000 students from 56 OPS schools had problems getting to and from school on time. Some kids were never picked up at all, and some issues lasted months.
Student Transportation of America and OPS are also doing dry runs. About 400 drivers are making sure they can finish their routes with all the stops on time. It allows them to make adjustments if they can't get to certain areas promptly. The district says they turned over the bus routes to STA two months in advance which hasn’t happened before.
