Student Transportation

If a student rode the bus in 2018-19 and they haven’t changed schools or moved, they will be provided with transportation for 2019-20 whether they were eligible or riding on the bus as a courtesy.

• Visit hrce.mybusplanner.ca to review your route.
• If your address has changed recently or will change before the start of next September, please go into your school to have updated.

BusPlanner

• BusPlanner is a site that allows parents/guardians to create a profile for their child and review all bussing information, including bus schedules.
   
• Once registered, parents/guardians can receive email notifications on changes to routes, delays or cancellations.
   
• You can register for BusPlanner using your child’s Provincial Student Number at hrce.mybusplanner.ca
   
• To view an Introduction to BusPlanner video, click here. 
   

Eligibility

Check your transportation eligibility using BusPlanner’s Transportation Eligibility Tool. Please note that any issues with listed schools should be addressed with HRCE's Transportation Team at 902-431-4723 (HRCE) or via email transportation@hrce.ca

Eligibility for transportation depends of the student's grade:

• For students in Grades Primary – 6, the distance is 2.4 km or more from the school.
• For students in Grades 7 – 12, the distance is 3.6 km or more from the school.

Students are assigned to routes by the HRCE's transportation provider, Stock Transportation, based on their transportation address information in PowerSchool. Eligibility for busing is determined from the student’s transportation address to the school property line (i.e. ‘curb to curb’ as per BusPlanner mapping software).

Please note: For the 2019-20 school year, Pre-Primary students are not eligible for HRCE student bus transportation. Parents/Guardians are responsible for getting children to the Pre-Primary Program. By September 2020, busing will be available for eligible Pre-Primary children in Nova Scotia.

What if we are not eligible for student transportation?

As a courtesy in 2019-20, the HRCE may allow the very few unassigned bus seats (formerly known as courtesy bus seats) to be used by students who are not eligible for student transportation.
Please note: Seats go to eligible bus students first and unassigned seats are extremely limited.

• HRCE will not be able to confirm how many unassigned seats are available until after late registration of new students and all routing is finalized.

• HRCE will inform families of any unassigned seat availability once all eligible bus students are accounted for, which will likely be by the end of October.

• If families have students that have changed schools, moved or want to request an unassigned seat (formerly known as courtesy seat), please contact the HRCE Transportation Team at 902-431-4723 or email transportation@hrce.ca

If approved for an extra seat in 2019-2020, please note this service may be discontinued at any time by the HRCE if there are any new students that are bus eligible or routing changes. It would then be the parent’s/ guardian’s responsibility to provide transportation for their child to and from school.
 

Messages to Families

• July 23, 2019 - Families of students who receive transportation as a result of an identified special need - link
• July 17 - August 7, 2019 - 2019-20 routing information (Sent by Family of Schools) - link
• July 9, 2019 - Families of incoming grade primary students - link
• June 28, 2019 - Year-end information, including busing information - link
• June 12, 2019 - Important Information for the 2019-20 School Year - link
• June 6, 2019 - Decision to tender for student transportation services - link

Other References

• Riding the School Bus (Safety tips when waiting for and riding on a school bus)
• Transportation of Items on School Buses (What is allowed? What isn't allowed?)
• Transportation of Students - Co-curricular/Extra-curricular Trips
• School Bus Collision/Incident Protocol

Contact Us

Connect with the HRCE Transportation Team at 902-431-4723 or email transportation@hrce.ca