Dear Families,
The Toronto Student Transportation Group (TSTG) would like to provide an update on student transportation for September 2024.
Driver Status
Throughout the summer, TSTG has had ongoing communication with student transportation carriers, including driver status updates. Currently, all companies have reported a sufficient number of drivers and spare drivers to start the new school year. Companies will continue to update us on their driver status on a weekly basis through out the school year. Please stay tuned for further updates, if needed.
Phased-in Start
Although it is very encouraging that bus operators are indicating sufficient drivers, there are often challenges that arise the first week of school until transportation is fully up and running smoothly for all. As a result, the TSTG will once again implement a phased-in start for student transportation to provide both a more consistent service for families and to ensure that students with special education needs are prioritized to receive bus service beginning the first week of school.
Starting September 3rd, 2024 – student transportation services will be provided for the following students:
- Students with special education needs (excluding those in the gifted program) who travel to school on minibuses, minivans, taxis, and wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
- Students at relocation schools (Hodgson PS, St Antione Daniel, Dante Alighieri, St Leo, St Matthias), specific buses for new Canadians, services for Eastern Rite Schools, The Island Public School, and Kapapamahchakwew - Wandering Spirit School.
Starting September 9th, 2024 – all other eligible students will be provided with student transportation unless there is a significant impact on driver availability.
Both the TDSB and TCDSB will be following this phased-in start. Should there be a significant impact on driver availability affecting the TSTG’s ability to deliver safe and timely service, we may delay the start of transportation for all other eligible students beyond September 9th. Should this be required, families will be informed as soon as possible so alternate transportation can be arranged.
Transportation Portal
All families that have children who use the transportation service must create an account on the transportation portal. This allows you to confirm your child’s transportation details including bus stop location, school bus operator, contact information, and school bus route number. You will also be able to subscribe to the late bus portal which will send you an email should the bus company report the bus your child is on is delayed. A new requirement this year is that you will need to have an email address associated with your account to access this information. This email address must match the email address on file with your child’s school. Please ensure your local school has the correct email address in their student information system.
As always, we continue to work with our partners to ensure a successful start to the school year. Should there be any questions or concerns, please reach out at any time.
Call Centre – 647-790-3829
General Inquiries – transportation@torontoschoolbus.org
Safety Concerns – safety@torontoschoolbus.org
Technology Issue with the Portal – support@torontoschoolbus.org