Porterville Unified School District and Via celebrate six months of safe, reliable transit for students
June 10, 2025 (Porterville, CA) — Porterville Unified School District (PUSD) and TransitTech provider Via recently celebrated six months of delivering safe, reliable transportation to hundreds of local students through the Via PUSD program.
Since launching in January, the Via PUSD program has provided over 2,300 rides — helping students experiencing temporary housing instability or living in remote areas stay connected to school, career opportunities, and essential community resources.
“Via PUSD helps students of all backgrounds access the opportunities they deserve, whether that means getting to class on time or reaching a meaningful internship through the local Career Pathways program,” said Arianna Grand, Student Transit Lead at Via.
The Via PUSD program also includes the Via Caregiver Web App, which empowers guardians to track rides in real time, stay informed about driver arrival times, and follow journeys from start to finish. Nearly 93% of Via PUSD drivers arrive within or ahead of the scheduled pickup window, further ensuring on-time arrivals and peace of mind for families.
Via and PUSD’s partnership signifies a growing trend from school districts across the country looking to implement equitable, safe, and reliable transportation programs for students who need it most — particularly in light of post-COVID school bus driver shortages and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which federally requires that all homeless youth have equitable access to free, appropriate public education.
Via PUSD employs 13 drivers and uses zero-emission electric vehicles designed to complement PUSD and City of Porterville’s commitment to environmental stewardship. The program is made possible through the support of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the City of Porterville, Climate Action Pathways for Schools (CAPS), and Native Star.
As the leader in TransitTech, Via provides tech-enabled transportation programs for more than 750 communities across the world, and currently works with school districts across the United States.
For more information about Via Student Transit, please visit: https://ridewithvia.com/solutions/student-transit.
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About Via
Founded in 2012, Via pioneered the TransitTech category by using new technologies to develop public mobility systems — optimizing networks of buses, shuttles, wheelchair accessible vehicles, school buses, autonomous vehicles, and electric vehicles around the globe. Building the world’s most efficient, equitable, and sustainable transportation network for all riders — including those with limited mobility, those without smartphones, and unbanked populations — Via works with its partners to lower the costs of public transit while providing transportation options that rival the convenience of a personal car while reducing the environmental impact. At the intersection of transportation and technology, Via is a visionary market leader that combines software innovation with sophisticated service design and operational expertise to fundamentally improve the way the world moves, providing technology in 750 communities and more than 35 countries and counting.