GENERAL STATISTICS

• Over 62,000 students
• Over 210 schools receiving student transportation service
• Over 65 Student Transportation Operators (NLESD + Contractors)
  • Approximately 33% of bus service across the Province is completed by NLSchools' operated service (school buses owned by NLSchools and drivers employed by NLSchools) and 67% by contractors (3rd party operators)
• Over 2,400 transportation runs and over 900 transportation routes (a route can have multiple runs)
• Over 10,000 bus stops
• Over 42,000 transportation-eligible students
• Over 15,000 students who reside within the Family Responsibility Zone (FRZ)
• Over 4,000 students attending school who reside out of the school's catchment
• NLSchools-operated school bus fleet of over 330
• Over 400 NLSchools employees
• Contracted fleet of over 625 school buses and over 100 private vehicles

School Year	NLSchools Operated	Contracted	TOTAL
2014-15	$ 18,991,524	$ 33,913,148	$ 52,904,672
2015-16	$ 22,050,022	$ 37,491,920	$ 59,541,942
2016-17	$ 20,538,746	$ 36,655,404	$ 57,194,150
2017-18	$ 19,901,757	$ 37,055,751	$ 56,957,508
2018-19	$ 19,372,233	$ 36,727,179	$ 56,099,412
2019-20	$ 18,420,122	$ 34,876,092	$ 53,296,214
Source - note that these actuals include principal payments made on bus loans

LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS

All school bus operators must follow the laws and regulations that apply to the maintenance and operation of commercial vehicles. This includes, but is not limited to:

Provincial

• Highway Traffic Act and numerous regulations, such as:
  • Ambulance, Bus, School Bus, Taxi and Commercial Motor Vehicles Insurance Regulations;
  • Bus Regulations - All buses must be compliant with Canadian Standards Association's D250 standards
  • Cargo Securement Regulations
  • Carrier Safety Regulations
  • Driver Regulations
  • Hours of Service Regulations
  • Licensing and Equipment Regulations
  • Official Inspection Station Regulations
  • Trip Inspection Report Regulations
• Workplace Health and Safety Compensation Act
• Labour Standards Act
• Occupational Health and Safety Act

Federal

• Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Standard D250
• Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
• National Safety Code

Recent Transport Canada publications:

• 2020 Strengthening School Bus Safety in Canada report by the Federal Government's Task Force on School Bus Safety
• Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations - School Bus Safety

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ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DIGITAL GOVERNMENT & SERVICE NL

The Department of Digital Government & Service NL is responsible for monitoring school bus operators throughout the province. Their Highway Enforcement Division conducts school bus inspections, spot checks, investigations and facility audits to ensure operators comply with the highly regulated school bus requirements. This department also manages school bus registration, driver licensing and a carrier safety rating system that evaluates operator overall performance.

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HOW THE STUDENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM WORKS

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (Department of Education) funds NLSchools to provide student transportation in accordance with their policies and guidelines.

The area of a school zone that is less than 1.6km from the school is considered the Family Responsibility Zone (FRZ). The Department of Education defines a student as eligible for transportation if they live 1.6 kilometres or farther from their zoned school (i.e. residing outside of the FRZ). This means that if you reside within 1.6km of your zoned school or outside of the school zone itself, your child is not eligible for transportation.

You can find school zone information here and find out what school your address is zoned for here.

If your child meets certain criteria outlined in the Department of Education's Alternate Transportation Policy, they could qualify for alternate transportation.

Bus routes are determined by NLSchools based on the geographic location of all eligible students' civic addresses. This is done effectively and efficiently through the use of specialized school bus routing software. Eligible students are then assigned to a specific route based on their civic address. Therefore, a student is only eligible for transportation on their assigned route to and from their civic address (proof of address may be required by the school).

For more information, please review the NLSchools Bus Route & Stop Guidelines.

Service is provided with a combination of NLSchools-owned school buses (and NLSchools-employed bus drivers) and 3rd party contracted student transportation operators. Service is predominantly provided with school buses however in certain circumstances private vehicles can be used in accordance with Department of Education guidelines.

NLSchools offers a supplemental service called courtesy seating. For more information on this, please review the NLSchools Courtesy Seating Protocol/Application Form.

SAFETY

Safety is an integral component of any successful student transportation system. The main factors of maintaining a safe student transportation system are:

1. Safe Buses
   
   School buses are required by law to meet the Canadian Standards Association's D250 school bus standards, a prescriptive manufacturing standard that school buses must be built and maintained to throughout the service life of a school bus.
   
   To give an illustration of how safe school buses are, here is a quote from the 2020 Strengthening School Bus Safety in Canada report by the Federal Government's Task Force on School Bus Safety:
   
   
   Children traveling to school by school bus are 72 times safer than those traveling to school by car, and 45 times safer than those walking and cycling to school.
   
   For more information on why school buses are so safe, please go here.
   
   School bus operators are required by law to arrange for the completion of two Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspections every year by an Official Inspection Station (a business licensed to inspect school buses). These inspections must be completed by a certified journeyperson mechanic. These two inspections are completed over the summer and in December. Additionally, Highway Enforcement Officers from the Department of Digital Government & Service NL complete an inspection of every school bus in the Fall of each year as well as a random inspection of 30% of the Province's school bus fleet on top of that at any time throughout the year. All of these inspections are very thorough.
   
   So every year, 70% of school buses are inspected 3 times a year, and 30% of school buses are inspected 4 times a year! To give some perspective on this, you may want to ask yourself when was the last time you had your personal vehicle inspected from top to bottom?
   
   By law, bus drivers are required to conduct, and document, a trip inspection every 24 hours and report any major defects to their supervisor immediately which need to be repaired before the school bus can return to service. If a school bus is involved in a collision, it must be inspected by a certified journeyperson mechanic before returning to service in consultation with the Highway Enforcement Division.
   
   
2. Safe Drivers
   
   School bus drivers are held to the highest standards of safety and preparedness. NLSchools outlines its standards in its Student Transportation Driver Standards. In order to transport students using a school bus, a driver must maintain a valid Class 2 Driver Licence (or Class 4 - Commercial) for smaller school buses) from the Motor Registration Division of the Department of Digital Government & Service NL. As per Motor Registration Division protocol, drivers holding a Class 2 or 4 commercial licence require a medical to be completed every 5 years until age 45, every 3 years until age 65 and every year after age 65.
   
   The NLSchools Driver Standards includes driver documentation, minimum qualifications and how NLSchools evaluates drivers. This includes regular Criminal Record & Vulnerable Sector screening as well as annual Driver Record screenings.
   
   In addition to a variety of school bus operator directed training, NLSchools maintains a school bus driver online training system. Through this system, all drivers are given specific training assignments each year on a variety of safety topics and student transportation procedures that are required to be completed in order to be eligible to transport students.
   
   All drivers are also required to participate in emergency school bus evacuation drills with students every Fall and maintain a valid Emergency First Aid, CPR & Epipen certificate.
   
   
3. Safe Route Design & Bus Stop Locations
   
   NLSchools is responsible for designing safe bus routes and bus stop locations. The routes are determined by a set of criteria outlined by the Department of Education which is captured in the NLSchools Bus Route & Stop Guidelines. Such criteria includes, but is not limited to, distances between stops, line of sight, posted speed limits, avoiding left turns where practical, widths of roads, grade of roads, intersections, traffic lanes and number of students.
   
   NLSchools is responsible for the safety of students from the moment they step onto the bus in the morning and until the moment they disembark the bus in the afternoon. However, it is the parent's/guardian's responsibility to ensure their child gets to and from their assigned bus stop safely.
   
   
4. Policy, Procedures & Laws - Safety Focus
   
   The school bus industry is one of the most highly regulated industries in Canada. The following entities have laws or policies and procedures that regulate the school bus industry in order to maintain the highest degree of safety as possible:
   
   
   • Federal Government (noted above)
   • Provincial Government
     • Legislation (particularly the Highway Traffic Act)
     • Department of Education
     • Department of Digital Government & Service NL
     • NLSchools
       • Policies
       • Procedures (some of which are located on this website)
         • Includes the NLSchools School Bus Safety Program
           • Classroom Instruction
           • Emergency School Evacuation & Loading/Unloading Drills
           • Driver Training
           • Policies & Procedures
           • Periodic School Safety Campaigns

Below are some of the frequently asked questions we receive. Please click on a question to scroll down to the answer.

1. How is student transportation eligibility determined?
2. My child is attending french immersion at a school other than the one that they are zoned for because their zoned school does not offer french immersion; is there busing for students in this situation?
3. How is the 1.6km Family Responsibility Zone measured?
4. How are bus routes and bus stops designed?
5. Google Maps says I am less than 1.6kms from the school but the school is telling me that I am not eligible; why is that?
6. How do I register my child for busing?
7. I witnessed a school bus speeding; who do I make a complaint with?
8. I feel it is not safe for my child to walk alone to their bus stop; why can't it be closer to my home?
9. I do not feel my child's bus stop is in a safe location; how do I place a request for it to be moved?
10. How do I find out my child's transportation schedule?
11. I just moved and need my child's bus stop/route changed; how do I do this?
12. Why can't my child bring a hockey bag or large instrument on the bus?
13. How safe are school buses?
14. Why aren't there seat belts on school buses?
15. What is my responsibility as a parent?
16. My child alternates weeks at Mom's house and Dad's house; will they get a seat on both buses?
17. I live less than 1.6km from my child's school; do I have any options for transportation?
18. What is Courtesy Seating?
19. I applied for a courtesy seat on a bus but got denied. I see the bus driving around half full; why can I not get a seat on the bus?
20. Where do I go if I am having issues with my Parent Portal account?
21. Why did my school bus not show up?

NLSchools:

• Vehicle Idling Policy (FIN-503)
• Vehicle Usage Policy (FIN-504)
• NLSchools Student Transportation Handbook / Stakeholder Expectations
• Courtesy Seating Protocol/Application Form
• Bus Route and Stop Design Guidelines
• Emergency School Bus Evacuation Drill Protocol
• Student Transportation Driver Standards
• Field Trip Protocol
• Kindergarten Transportation Identification Protocol
• Student Transportation Vehicle Idling Protocol
• Student Expectations on the Bus (to be posted in every bus)

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador:

• Department of Education Student Transportation Policies and Guidelines
• School Bus Transportation Policies (EECD-902)
• Alternate Transportation Policy and Application Package (EECD-903)
• Highway Traffic Act
• Relevant Regulations