Busing & Transportation

Eligibility

General transportation (big yellow school bus) is available to students who:

• Attend their designated school, and
  
• Live beyond the school walk zone, and
  
• Are assigned to general transportation as their mode

All high school students and some Grade 6 to 9 students are designated to Calgary Transit.

For the purpose of transportation, only the student’s primary address in our student information system will be used to establish eligibility.

For registration information, go to the "Register" section at the top of this page.

Bus Routes and Stops

Bus route, stop location and stop time information are available through MyCBE to registered students who have been added to a route. The stop time provided is the time the bus leaves the stop. Please be at the stop at least five minutes before the scheduled departure time. Buses will not wait at or return to stops once they have left. Families of kindergarten students are asked to meet their child at the door of the bus to ensure their safety. Drivers only ensure kindergarten students are met by a parent or guardian. If you would like your child in grade 1 and up to be met by a parent or guardian, send an email to transportation@cbe.ab.ca, and a note will be added to the route.

Bus Stop Directions

Bus stop information, including directions to and from the bus stop is not provided by email. To plan your travel route from your home to the bus stop, you can use a free software (e.g. Google Maps) for assistance. Simply copy the bus stop location from MyCBE into the search bar as a starting point. The bus stop information is given as follows:

• Northbound/Eastbound/Southbound/Westbound = Direction the bus will be travelling
• Street Name (1st) = The street the bus stop will be located on
• Before/After = Whether the stop is before or after the cross street
• Street Name (2nd) = The cross street the bus stop will be located before or after
  
• NW/NE/SE/SW = The quadrant of the city the bus stop is located
• Landmark = A landmark that provides a visible location to identify the bus stop
  

Bus Orientations

• Calgary Transit Orientations
• My 1st Ride Program
  

Service Levels and Fees for 2024-2025

Transportation for the Regular Program

Bus eligible students will have a bus stop within 1.6 km for elementary schools and 1.8 km for middle or junior high schools. Students in kindergarten get one way transportation. This is a set fee for the school year that is not adjusted based on actual usage.

Transportation for Specialized Programs

Bus eligible students who have been directed to a special education program and assigned to general transportation will have a bus stop within 1.6 km for elementary schools and 1.8 km for middle or junior high schools. The transportation fee is $260. This is a set fee for the school year that is not adjusted based on actual usage. Find more information in Specialized Transportation.

Transportation for Alternative Programs

Students attending alternative programs access general transportation for alternative programs under a congregated stop model.

Conditional Ridership

Conditional ridership may be available to students who are not eligible for general transportation.

Conditional ridership:

• is not guaranteed;
• must be applied for every year using MyCBE;
  
• must be approved by Transportation Services before riding;
• has a fee;
• is offered on a first come, first served basis;
• means the student must access an existing stop; and
• is granted based on the above criteria; should routes change or if qualified students are added to a route and the bus becomes overcrowded, conditional riders may be removed to accommodate these changes
  

Parents must have alternate transportation arrangements in place in case approval is not received before the start of the school year, in case the registration is not approved, and/or in case the conditional rider status is removed in the school year. This is a set fee for the school year that is not adjusted based on actual usage.

Alternate Addresses

We’ve heard from families that they would like more flexibility to access bus stops and routes to support childcare arrangements and changing family schedules. CBE Transportation allows families to add a second address to their transportation registration to have access to two bus stops and/or routes.

Note | Bus stops may only be added within the attendance area for the school and outside the walk zone. Maps can be found on the school profile on the CBE School Directory. The information collected from parents informs bus route planning but does not guarantee a stop at the exact location requested.

To participate in the program, you must:

1. Register for transportation in MyCBE by the deadline.
2. Fill in the Request for Alternate Address form in MyCBE and provide one additional address and schedule for your child. Note: the form will only appear after you register.
   

CBE Transportation will review each request to determine if the request can be accommodated. Families will be notified of the decision within six weeks of application. If it is approved, the second address will be used as we are creating new bus routes over the summer.

The cost of this request, if approved, is $110.

Frequently Asked Questions - Alternate Address

Ride Times

In general, ride times are an hour or less each way. Due to the distance some students must travel to alternative or specialized programs, ride times may be longer in some cases.

Bus Route and Stop Changes

Bus routes are developed using registrations received by the deadline. Bus routes and stops are subject to change throughout the school year and between school years. To request a change, parents/guardians can complete a Bus Stop Change Request Form available through MyCBE. As a reminder, families are responsible for student safety to, from, and at the bus stop. A bus stop change will not be considered based on the path students use to get to or from a bus stop, including any road crossings. Please note, drivers may not change the stop location. All requests must come through CBE Transportation.

For registered students, if families move over the summer, and cannot update their new address with the school, email transportation@cbe.ab.ca as soon as possible so the route and bus stop assignment can be updated.

Driver Shortage

While the majority of CBE bus routes have a regular driver assigned to the route, our transportation service providers continue to face a bus driver shortage that is impacting many students and schools.

To help mitigate the impact on students and schools of this ongoing driver shortage, CBE has taken a number of steps in response:

• increased capacity by expanding the number of service providers;
• reassigned routes with low ridership to specialized transportation service providers with small buses who have additional capacity;
• utilized buses to a higher capacity to reduce the overall number of drivers required;
• provided proactive communication with families, schools, and our public; and
  
• managed the transportation contract to ensure CBE routes are prioritized by service providers.
  

The bus driver shortage is one being experienced across the province and across the country. We committed to continuing to explore solutions to ensure students are able to access their school and in so doing minimize the impact on students, families, and school communities.

Service Delays

The service providers (transportation companies) own and update the bus status apps. Contact them with questions if you are unable to add a route, unable to track the bus, etc. The contact numbers for each provider can be found on this webpage.

Please plan ahead for using transportation in cold weather.

Cancellations

Requests are completed through MyCBE. Each year, families have until September 30 to cancel without any fee being charged. Cancellations for the rest of the year must be received within 30 days of the last day service was used. Transportation fees will continue to be charged until a cancellation is received, regardless of usage. Prorated refunds are only issued based on future months.​​​​​​​