A UniteGPS production

The Turnaround
Podcast

Real stories from student transportation leaders about the challenges they faced, what they did, and what they learned along the way.

About the show

Districts are solving hard problems on the fly.

On The Turnaround, UniteGPS CEO Christopher Bunnell sits down with transportation directors, superintendents, and district leaders who faced a real crisis and led their way through it. Explore real stories with lessons you can put to work in your own district.

Topics we cover

  • Routing and the driver shortage

    Doing more with the buses and drivers you have.

  • Student safety and ridership

    Knowing who is on the bus, and keeping families informed.

  • Budgets and board conversations

    Making the case for transportation spending.

  • Technology in the transportation office

    What’s worth adopting, and what isn’t.

Season One preview

A first look at Season One.

Daniel Rosengard
Preview

The Turnaround · Episode 01
(Coming soon)

Daniel Rosengard

Getting 22,000+ students to school on time, every day

Boston Public Schools’ executive director of transportation on running reliable yellow bus service at big-city scale.

Highlights

  • Running on-time service for a major city
  • How his team measures and improves on-time performance
  • Why reliable routes mean equitable access to school

Guest Daniel Rosengard · Executive Director of Transportation, Boston Public Schools (Massachusetts)

Dan leads Boston Public Schools Transportation, responsible for safe, reliable, on-time, and cost-effective yellow bus service for more than 22,000 students every day. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and has made on-time performance and equitable access to school the focus of his team’s work.

Christopher King
Preview

The Turnaround · Episode 02
(Coming soon)

Christopher King

Keeping every route covered in a tight driver market

The director of transportation for Russellville School District on recruiting, training, and scheduling drivers when every seat counts.

Highlights

  • Recruiting and training drivers and aides
  • Covering routes across 11 schools
  • What he’d tell a director facing the same shortage

Guest Christopher King · Director of Transportation, Russellville School District (Arkansas)

Chris runs transportation for Russellville School District in Pope County, Arkansas, a district serving more than 5,200 students across 11 schools. He leads the team that recruits, trains, and schedules the district’s bus drivers and aides, and keeps routes running in a tight labor market.

Be our guest

You’ve faced the challenges. Share what you’ve learned with the world.

We’d especially love to hear how you’ve…

  • Led a district through a driver shortage or route crisis
  • Redesigned operations under real budget or safety pressure
  • Built a safety or training culture others could learn from
  • Kept students safe when things didn’t go according to plan
  • Made a hard, public decision and stood behind it

Upon receiving your request, our podcast team will get in touch with you.