The CyberBus, fueled by Jerome Bettis’ promise, is bridging the digital divide
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-
The digital divide received heightened attention during the COVID-19 pandemic when virtual learning became a necessity, but it was an issue in Pittsburgh communities long before it became a national emergency.
Former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis’ Bus Stops Here Foundation — founded in 1997, while Bettis was still playing — has been working to bridge that divide.
Its latest innovation comes in the form of a 40-foot-long, zero-emission bus that will soon roll through the neighborhoods of Western Pennsylvania. The Jerome Bettis CyberBus, a state-of-the-art electric mobile classroom, is equipped with computers, Wi-Fi and interactive technology for science, technology, engineering, art and math and artificial intelligence education. It was donated by Blue Bird Corp.
“Blue Bird’s electric school bus will turn into a powerful vehicle of change to bridge the digital divide,” president and CEO John Wyskiel said in a statement. “Furthermore, this bus generates zero emissions, protecting the health of students and neighborhoods alike.”
The project, a partnership between the Bus Stops Here Foundation and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania, is the foundation’s second CyberBus.
For Bettis, the promise was made decades ago, on a football field in inner-city Detroit.
A free camp run by a former NFL player showed a young Bettis that football could change not only his life, but also the lives of many.
When he asked the organizer, former Raiders linebacker and NFL executive Reggie McKenzie, why he did it for free, the answer was simple: “If I can impact one child’s life, then my job here on earth was worth it.”
“I was that one kid,” Bettis told Bethany Vietmeier, executive director of the Bus Stops Here Foundation. “I made a promise that I would carry it forward.”
He did that immediately, by volunteering at the same camp during his summers off from college at Notre Dame University.
The CyberBus is more than a vehicle; it’s the evolution of Bettis’ very first foundation program. In 1997, the CyberBus was a summer program where kids learned to configure desktop computers at Duquesne University and took them home — often the first computer their family ever owned.
The other hallmark of the foundation is an annual holiday toy drive. This year’s campaign on Dec. 20 was a partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs and Christy and Joey Porter’s Jasmine Nyree Campus. The groups loaded up school buses with gifts for underserved youth and made stops in Carnegie, Lawrenceville and McKees Rocks, giving gifts to over 300 kids.
Another recent campaign is the “Ready Fore Work” program with The First Tee of Pittsburgh, which uses golf to teach life skills and provides summer caddying jobs at Bob O’Connor Golf Course in Schenley Park.
While the Jerome Bettis CyberBus represents the evolution of the foundation’s mission, the original, operational Cyber Bus was a project in collaboration with the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh. Its story is one of perfect, pandemic-era timing and a model of meeting critical need with mobile innovation.
The design was intentional and inclusive.
“One of our board members is disabled,” noted Michelle Sandidge, chief community affairs officer for the city Housing Authority. “So she worked with us…. It has a wheelchair accessible lift on the back, so that any of the barriers, we tackled those.”
The concept began before 2020, but it took a while to finally get the Cyber Bus out to the community due to design and fabrication timelines.
It arrived right after the COVID-19 pandemic locked down Pittsburgh in 2021, making a mobile tech hub indispensable.
“It came right to your front door,” Sandidge said.
The bus provided not just internet access and hardware but also foundational digital literacy.
“Our team is equipped to be able to assist residents in even the smallest of things, like how to turn on your computer,” she said.
This was vital for navigating the sudden shift to telemedicine, online education and remote work.
The bus itself became a powerful tool for engagement.
Chuck Rohrer, the housing authority’s communications director, highlighted the draw of the Bettis branding.
“When we pull into a neighborhood, they see it, there’s a 10-foot Jerome Bettis on the side of it, and that draws people in.”
This “curiosity,” as Rohrer called it, was key to breaking down barriers.
“It’s truly … meeting them where they’re at.”
The original Cyber Bus operates on a rotating schedule, going into Pittsburgh public housing communities. During the day, adults and seniors can get help with job readiness, resumé building and any other tech needs. Once the bell rings, the children have an afterschool program, fueled by the STEM Coding Lab to help build the next generation of digital natives.
Brandon Hamilton has been working on the Cyber Bus since its launch. He has seen the impact it can have.
“I can say this because I grew up in this community. There wasn’t anything like this when I was growing up,” he said.
Hamilton may see up to 40 kids per day, but the original bus is a modified box truck, so no more than eight can fit on it at one time.
“The new one is going to be able to reach a lot more kids,” he said.
He is willing to do whatever it takes to reach the kids who need it most, whether that is “doing cartwheels for Christmas” or figuring out how to create a video game from scratch.
“We try, and we are going to keep trying, because that is all we can do,” he concluded.
More than just a city asset, the housing authority’s Cyber Bus became a national model, winning awards from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It has traveled from Philadelphia to Phoenix, demonstrating its replicable success.
“We’re going everywhere to talk about the program,” Sandidge said, “because it’s one of a kind.”
The lessons from the HACP project informed the latest CyberBus in many ways. The first was the strategic partnership. The housing authority had the ability to serve its residents, but the Bus Stops Here Foundation saw an opportunity to reach a wider portion of the community. That is where the Boys & Girls Clubs became a perfect fit.
The BGCWPA also has coverage gaps. The CyberBus was an easy way to reach people who otherwise wouldn’t be in the group’s coverage area.
“We’re going to operate at least five days a week after school and offer supplemental after-school programming for them around STEAM education,” Vietmeier said. “And then it’s going to operate also at community events in the area and offer our programming to areas where there aren’t actually brick-and-mortar Boys & Girls Club locations. We will go into those communities as well to offer programming.”
The launch of this CyberBus “marks a new era in our organization’s ability to meet youth and families where they are,” added Chris Watts, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania.
The CyberBus addresses persistent challenges that outlasted the pandemic itself.
“We still are seeing the impact of the COVID pandemic five years later,” said Hersh Merenstein, senior director of external affairs for the Boys & Girls Clubs. “Learning loss, lack of access to opportunities, low attendance rates, low reading and math proficiency are all still very real issues in our communities. After-school programs have been proven to help with these issues.”
The new CyberBus, which is expected to launch in the spring, will travel to clubhouses and communities from Aliquippa to Shadyside, McKeesport to Millvale, offering after-school and summer programming in digital literacy, coding, AI and workforce readiness. It will also make stops at events for other programs, including the Mel Blount Youth Home run by that former Steeler.
It will be staffed by BGCWPA employees and foundation hires, bringing hands-on learning directly to children in grades K-8.
The Jerome Bettis CyberBus represents the scaling of a proven concept, taking the hard-won lessons from Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods to the wider region. From a summer computer lab in 1997 to a 40-foot electric classroom today, it is a dynamic tool to address persistent challenges — learning loss, opportunity gaps and digital inequity.
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