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Special Information For Parents

Parents are naturally concerned about having their children bused to school or day-care. We have developed a set of polices and procedures for school children that we feel protects everyone; please read over them carefully. We have also supplemented them with a list of FAQ's that will, hopefully, answer most of the questions you may have. If not, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Policies Procedures And Guidelines
Frequently Asked Questions

Policies Procedures And Guidelines

Setting Up Your Child's Ride
You may arrange a ride for your child using any of the methods outlined in the section "Setting Up A Ride." When you arrange for a recurring scheduled ride for your child we take pertinent information regarding your name, the home address and telephone number, place and time of pickup and drop-off, emergency telephone numbers and, if necessary, the name(s) of contact persons. When you arrange a one-time ride we will ask for the telephone number of someone we can contact at the drop-off location. It is this information alone that will govern how we handle your child's ride.

Maintaining Your Child's Ride
Keeping the necessary information current is the parent's responsibility. We will never modify any information (pick-up times, days of pick-up, destinations, etc.) regarding your child's ride unless you or a responsible adult (child care provider, school office staff, etc.) contacts us and requests the change. And we make only one important assumption: that the information we are provided or have recorded is accurate and up to date. We feel that it would be highly inappropriate for us to make second guesses about your intentions or your child's situation and we don't believe you would want us to. For this reason it is extremely important for you and the other responsible adults to, first, communicate with each other about the current status of your child's ride and to then inform us, in a timely manner, of any changes that may be needed. Examples of this would be: the need to change the time of pick-up during a week of early school dismissal or the need to call to reschedule a ride when the child misses the bus.

At times a parent will get upset with us because they feel we should somehow be able to figure out what changes need to be made and when to make them. But there are a variety of very good reasons why we do not, all of them designed to protect the interest of the child. Just one example: we would have no way of knowing if someone would be at a drop-off location if we take the child home earlier than the time indicated. If we haven't been informed of the need for a change can we assume the child care provider has been?

When Questions Arise Over Your Child's Ride
Our service relies on timely communication and accurate information and we are vigilant in doing our part to avoid problems arising from mis-communication. But at times a situation does occur. It usually happens at the time when a child either boards the bus or arrives at his/her destination. Our experience has shown there are three basic situations: the child decides he/she wants to get off at a friend's house instead of going home, a parent has called to change a destination but neglects to inform the child, or, we have been given inaccurate information.

When the child raises a question or objection about where he/she is being taken the driver will immediately advise the dispatcher of the situation and request confirmation. The dispatcher will then advise the driver when, as in case two above, the correct information is known. If, on the other hand, there is good reason to question the accuracy of the information the dispatcher will attempt to contact a responsible adult using the telephone number(s) provided by the parent. If the dispatcher is unable to reconfirm the information by telephone the driver will be instructed to return the child to his/her place of pick-up. It will then be the responsibility of someone at the pick-up location to remedy the situation.

Boarding The Bus At School
We pick up children at three elementary schools and a junior high school. On most days the buses are full or nearly so. When your child comes to the bus after school there may be more than one bus waiting to pick up children. Each driver has a list of all the names and drop-off locations for the children they are to take. Your child should know the address of the location they will be going to after school. The driver will only board those children whose names and addresses are on that list. At times a child may come to the bus and find he/she is not on the driver's list. The driver will instruct the child to go to the other bus and check with that driver. If the child is on neither list he/she is given specific instructions to return to the office and have the office staff call you.

When Your Child Misses The Bus
When your child misses the bus or is not on a driver's stop list a new ride will need to be scheduled. We will not automatically return at a later time to pick him/her up. We will only return at a later time if someone, either a parent or a responsible adult, calls us to reschedule the ride. If, as sometimes happens, the child tries to board the bus when we come to the school at a later time for other children, he/she will be instructed to return to the office and have the office staff call you. To avoid this situation you should instruct your child ahead of time that if he/she misses the bus to go directly to the office and have the staff call you so you can contact us about scheduling a new ride.

Canceling Your Child's Ride
If you don't need your child picked up it is important that you call and cancel rides for those time periods. If a child is a "no-show" three times their recurring scheduled ride(s) will be canceled without notice. There are many times when someone needs a ride for their child and can't get one because we are booked up. Your care to cancel ahead of time will enable someone else to have your child's seat.

When Your Child Does Not Have A Fare
Our policy states that a fare must be paid in order to board the bus. But being parents ourselves we understand that kids can be forgetful. If your child is set up as a regularly scheduled rider we will allow him/her to owe one fare (a child may in no case owe more than one fare). However, the owed fare must be paid the next time the child rides the bus. If the child does not have the fare at that time we will issue one warning in the form of a note sent home with the child reminding you a fare is owed. Should the child fail to have two fares the next time he/she boards the bus, the driver will have the child return to the office to call you to make other arrangements for a ride. The child will not be permitted to ride again until the extra fare is paid. Also keep in mind that children will be allowed to owe a fare only when boarding the bus after school. They must always have a fare when boarding the bus at home or day-care.

Rules For Students
Most of these rules are just common sense but please go over them with your child and periodically thereafter.

1. If a child rides in the morning they should be ready to go before the bus arrives and listening for the horn.
2. Have a fare ready to deposit when boarding the bus.
3. When a child boards the bus at school they should tell the driver their name clearly and wait for his O.K. before putting a fare in the vault. We can not provide refunds or credits.
4. Front seats are for the elderly and handicapped when necessary.
5. Use the flip down seats only when there are no other seats available.
6. Stay seated until the bus has come to a complete stop and the door has been opened.
7. Seatbelts should be worn at all times.
8. Move away from the bus immediately after exiting.
9. No food, drinks, or littering on the bus. Place all trash in the container at the front of the bus and inform the driver of any spills or messes.
10. No bikes, surfboards, skates, or other large objects that may cause a safety hazard.
11. No feet on the walls or seats.
12. All hands, arms and feet are to be kept inside the bus at all times.
13. No yelling out the windows to passersby.
14. No bare feet, horseplay, loud noise, radios, fighting, or foul language.

Your child will receive two behavior warnings. We will then call you to remedy the situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is my child going to be safe riding the bus?
2. Do other people ride the bus when my child is on board?
3. Can I pay for my child's ride(s) in advance?
4. Where can buy I discount passes?
5. Does the driver take my child to the door?
6. Will my child be brought directly home after school?
7. Do you have a lost and found?
8. Will the driver put on my child's seatbelt?
9. What if no one is home when my child arrives?

1. Is my child going to be safe riding the bus?
This is certainly a reasonable question. We want to assure all parents that we take the responsibility for your child's safety very seriously. In order to transport children all of our drivers are screened and fingerprinted before employment and tested periodically by the California Highway Patrol in order to maintain a special certificate required by law. As you may have noted elsewhere on our site, our driver's also participate in ongoing training in safety and professionalism. We have been transporting children for 20 years now and have never had an incident concerning a child.

 

2. Do other people ride the bus when my child is on board?
Yes. Because we are a publicly owned and operated service we cannot refuse service to someone who calls to schedule a ride. Our drivers constantly monitor the inside of the bus and the great majority of our customers ride on a regular basis so we are quite familiar with them. Your child is perfectly safe while on our buses.

 

3. Can I pay for my child's ride(s) in advance?
Unfortunately, paying in advance can lead to a lot of problems for everyone so your child needs to have a fare when he/she boards the bus. However, if your child is very young or forgetful we have found that you can make arrangements with your child's teacher or day-care provider to hold the pass. Other parents have had success over the years by taping the pass inside the lunch box, pinning it to the child's shirt or coat, or placing the pass in a large envelope or plastic lunch bag so it's harder to lose.

 

4. Where can buy I discount passes?
You can purchase passes at Los Osos Rexall Drugs, the RTA Administrative offices, and on the Dial A Ride bus. For more information on tickets click here .

 

5. Does the driver take my child to the door?
No. Because we have other children on the bus to supervise we do not escort children to the door. If we arrive across the street from a child's drop-off location (which we try to avoid) the driver will escort the child across the street but they must be able to get inside on their own. If it is a small child, such as a kindergartner or preschooler who seems unsure of what to do or where to go, the driver will watch from the bus to see they get to the door safely before leaving.

 

6. Will my child be brought directly home after school?
That depends on where the child is going. We schedule the bus to pick up and drop off passengers in the most efficient manner possible. We transport many children to and from school each day so naturally some children will be on the bus longer than others but we usually have all our children dropped off within 30-40 minutes after picking them up.

 

7. Do you have a lost and found?
The drivers check periodically for items left on the bus and place them in a box in our front office. If your child loses a coat, shirt, homework or anything else, you may come in during our office hours and search for it. If your child loses a lunchbox or backpack and you give us a call and can identify the item, we will try to send it with a driver when the child is next picked up and see that it's returned. Because of the volume of lost items we collect, the lost and found box is taken to the local thrift store when it gets too full, so don't delay in calling us if you need to retrieve something of value.

 

8. Will the driver put on my child's seatbelt?
No. Seatbelts are not required by law on public transportation but we strongly encourage children to wear them. However, children must be able to fasten and unfasten their own seatbelt so that in the event the driver is incapacitated in an accident the child will be able to unsecure themselves from their seat and get out of the bus. We have transported children as young as 4 who have been able to learn how to use a seatbelt.

 

9. What if no one is home when my child is dropped off?
As explained in question five, we do not escort children to the door. Therefore, we have no way of knowing whether someone is there when we arrive. Unless someone notifies us, we must make the reasonable assumption that if someone has called to arrange a ride for their children they have also arranged to have someone ready to meet them when they arrive at their destination. It is the parent's responsibility to ensure that this is the case. If our drivers happen to notice something unusual (all the lights in the house are off for example) they will wait to see that the child is able to get into the house. If he/she is locked out we will then return him/her to the pick-up location. It will then be the responsibility of someone at the pick-up location to remedy the situation. However, we can not guarantee this will always happen so we stress that it is your responsibility to see that someone is available to meet your child at his/her destination.