The Student Transportation Services of Thunder Bay are directing parents to check online for up-to-date information on school bus routes, delays and cancellations.
The website launched for the first time last spring in order to give parents quick access to bus routes for all local and regional school boards. The website will replace the letters that were sent out to parents detailing bus routes.
Instead of those letters, parents are directed to use the website by logging in with their child’s nine-digit Ontario Education Number found on their report cards for information on routes, cancellations and delays.
Dave Carroll, consortia officer with Student Transportation, said the information provided on the website is confidential but when a parent logs in the information will show the routes, what school the student attends and the buses location.
“We’re hoping this process will cut down the number of phone calls we do,” Carroll said. “This website is directly linked to our transportation software so parents are getting current information. If there’s a time change they can go on the website anytime during the year and get updates on pick up times and locations.”
During the winter months when there’s a lot of snow, any delays will be reported by the bus drivers and posted on the website. That will help parents know where to go to pick up their children, he said.
“It’s a one-stop shopping,” he said. “There’s a lot of information on there.”
If the website were to go down because of technical delays, Carroll said they would inform parents by calling them about any cancellations and delays but added if the site were to go down it would only be for a few hours at the most.
