In the winter of 2010, snowstorms in Boston resulted in adverse road conditions and traffic delays, causing parents to worry about their children riding home on public school buses. During the blizzards, Chris Osgood, Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM), was at the Boston Public Schools Call Center relaying the GPS locations of school buses to concerned parents. Chris and his colleagues realized allowing parents and caretakers to view this information on a smartphone or computer would improve the system, especially in critical weather situations. MONUM pilots experiments in the areas of civic engagement, education, and improved service delivery in Boston, using cross-sector collaboration to solve issues within cities. This case study tells the story of how MONUM, in partnership with Boston Public Schools, the GPS Provider Zonar, and Code for America (and later, Vermonster), created a free app that would deliver needed information to parents in a safe and expedited way.
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