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Student Transportation

Welcome to HRCE Student Transportation!

Busing is provided to students living within a school’s catchment area and registered with that school, if eligible. In September, over 380 school buses will safely transport more than 25,000 HRCE students to and from school. Safety on a school bus is essential and everyone including drivers, students and families, has a role in ensuring school bus safety.

Eligibility – New Distance Criteria for September

On June 15, 2020, the province announced a School Transportation Policy that will be effective as of September 1st, 2020. You can read more about this announcement here. One of the highlights of the new policy includes lowered distance criteria for bus eligibility. This means that more students are eligible for busing in September.

Eligibility for busing is determined on the shortest walking route from the student’s primary residence road-front property line to the assigned school property line (‘curb to curb’ as per BusPlanner’s mapping software not google mapping).

Students are assigned to routes based on their civic address information in PowerSchool or an alternate busing address such as a daycare or after school program. All transportation addresses must be in catchment of the student’s assigned school. 

  • Transportation is provided to children attending pre-primary programs and elementary students who live more than 1.6 km from their school in their designated catchment area.
  • Transportation is provided to middle/junior high and secondary students who live more than 2.4 km from their school in their designated catchment area.

Check your transportation eligibility, visit hrcetransportation.mybusplanner.ca and click “Am I Eligible for Student Transportation?”

Not eligible for student transportation?

We encourage families to plan ahead if your child is not eligible for a bus.

We are here to support families. You can contact the HRCE Transportation Team via email transportation@hrce.ca or leave a voicemail at 902-431-4723. We are working remotely and we are ready to help families.

Unassigned Seat Update

There is no unassigned seat request process or waitlist for unassigned seats.

The availability of any unassigned seats for students who aren’t eligible for busing will not be determined until after September 30th, 2020 once all bus eligible students are routed. 

New Families of Pre-Primary and Primary

Once your school registration is completed, your child will be automatically assigned to routes by HRCE, if bus eligible. Routes are assigned based on their transportation address information in PowerSchool. There is no need to register for busing.

New families will only have to create an account on BusPlanner’s Parent Portal in July. Families will need an email address and their child’s student number to sign up.

  • HRCE will be providing all new families their student numbers (10 digits) in July.
  • Further information on how to sign up and use BusPlanner’s Parent Portal in July and information will also be posted on our website.

Parents/guardians are responsible for ensuring their child(ren) get to and from school and/or for ensuring the safety of their child(ren) while they are at the bus stop.

Visit our frequently asked questions for more information on Pre-Primary and Primary busing by clicking here.

Routing will be ready for review in July.

HRCE Transportation is currently in the process of routing for September. All families can check their child's routing in BusPlanner’s Parent Portal in July so that you have the information you need about your student transportation in advance of September.

Routes are assigned based on student’s civic address information in PowerSchool.

Please ensure your transportation address information is up to date in PowerSchool.

  • If you wish to have your child routed to an alternate address, please contact your school and provide your Alternate Busing information for an update in PowerSchool.
  • If you’ve moved recently, please contact your school and update your address in PowerSchool, otherwise your routing may be delayed.

BusPlanner’s Parent Portal will automatically reflect any address changes and will update routing if your child is bus eligible.

Please note: Students are not eligible for transportation for out-of-area alternate busing addresses.

To find a school’s contact information, click here.

Check BusPlanner’s Parent Portal in July

  • BusPlanner is a site that allows parents/guardians to open an account and add their child to review all busing information, including bus schedules and locations as well as sign up for email notifications.
  • There is no need to create an account or review BusPlanner’s Parent Portal until July.
  • We will be contacting all families, including new families to Pre-Primary and Primary, about how to sign up and use BusPlanner’s Parent Portal in July and information will also be posted here on our website.
  • If you've moved recently, please contact your school and update your address in PowerSchool, otherwise your child’s routing may be delayed.

Who will be busing my child to school in September?

  • Families can identify their school and school bus service provider for the 2020-21 school year at: https://www.hrce.ca/transportation/2020
  • Please do NOT contact any of our bus service providers as all questions about busing related concerns, requests or routing should be sent to the HRCE Transportation Team.

How do I determine my child(ren)'s school catchment area?

Click School Catchment to determine what school your child(ren) would attend based on your primary residence address. You can enter your street address and be shown what schools are in your catchment. If you are new to the area or looking at a home in HRM, this map is a great resource for your planning.

Other References

Contact Us

During any time of the year, HRCE Transportation Team can answer your questions about school bus routes, stops and schedules. We can also available to discuss any concerns you may have about your child’s student transportation.

For frequently asked questions, please click here. 

You can contact the HRCE Transportation Team via email transportation@hrce.ca or leave a voicemail at 902-431-4723.

We are working remotely and we are ready to help families.