FAQ
Who can request Day Student transportation services?
The TSD Transportation Department provides services to and from school for day students that live within the Austin Independent School District(AISD) catchment area. We also transport students from the Round Rock ISD area, but the pick up and drop off points are at a set meeting place as opposed to the home address service provided for AISD area students. Students that live in the surrounding ISD's, other than AISD or Round Rock are served by their home district. Parents living in another district should contact that district's Transportation Department to request services. You can call our office at 512-462-5391 for contact information for other districts.
For Summer Program transportation services, there are specific eligibility requirements. You can contact our office to find out if your child is eligible for Summer Program transportation services. Parents of eligible students may need to fill out a Summer Program Transportation Request form and turn it into our office if your child has not been transported by us during the school year. The same criteria listed above and below for regular school year services apply during Summer Program.
How do I request transportation services?
In order to set up transportation services, a transportation request form is required each year. The form can be requested from our office, your child's school office, and admissions. It is also often completed at your child's annual ARD meeting. Once the form is filled out, signed and turned in to the transportation office, a staff member will review the information on the form to be sure all is complete and the address is one that is in our service area. The stop will be set up on the appropriate route and you will be contacted with the specifics on the route #, pick up times, and drop off times and when transportation will begin. It takes a minimum of 3-5 school days to set up transportation services to a new address. A change to existing transportation services requires the same form and the same amount of time to complete. Forms for regular year and summer program services are below.
When should I contact the transportation office?
The transportation office is staffed from 5:45am - 5:30pm on Monday - Thursdays (until 4:30pm on Fridays). Here are some specific reasons to contact our office staff:
If your child will not be riding in the AM for any reason. Please contact our office between 6:00am - 6:30am so the driver can be informed and not make unnecessary stops. If there are 3 consecutive "no call no shows" (meaning the bus goes to your home but no one gets on and we were not notified in advance), the bus service will be suspended to your home until you contact the office to let us know you will need AM pick up service to resume. If your child will not ride the PM route, please also notify us so we can let the driver know not to expect them at the bus loading zone. In addition, you should follow any notification requirements set by your child's school office.
If you have any questions or concerns about the route, driver or monitor. Our Drivers and Monitors have been instructed to refer all issues to the office and will not be able to assist you other than to ask you to please contact the Transportation Office.
If you are moving or have other changes to your contact information. Remember, we must be able to reach you in case of any potential emergency, so please be sure we have up to date and accurate contact information.
If you wish to have another student ride home with your child or for your child to ride home with another student. We only allow guests on the bus on Friday afternoons (with return on Monday if needed) and we have a 2 guest limit per route. We must have permission from both you and the other student's family in order to do this. Also, we must receive these permissions in the transportation office before 1pm the day it is to occur. You may call, email or write a note and send it with your child in order to do this. Please refer to contact page for needed information. If you wish to permit your child to get off the bus with another student on the same route, this is possible any day of the week, however, the same permission requirements apply
How long will the bus wait for me or my child?
TSD buses serve a wide area and must keep to their schedule in order to get the students to school and delivered home on time each day. With this in mind, we ask that in the morning, your child is outside and ready to board the bus at least 10 minutes before their stop time. That said, once the bus arrives at your location here are the guidelines the drivers follow:
If they arrive early - they will wait until 2 minutes past your designated pick up time
If they arrive on time - they will wait until 2 minutes past your designated pick up time
If they arrive late - they will stop the bus, scan the area for waiting students, and if they see no one, they will proceed on route without waiting any longer.
In the afternoon, we ask that if your child requires supervision leaving the bus, that you are there and ready to meet the bus 5 minutes prior to the drop time. When the bus arrives, if you are not there, we will attempt to reach you before the bus proceeds. If the bus must leave without delivering your child, we will continue to attempt to reach you and arrange a meeting place for you to meet the bus and retrieve your child. Failing this, the driver will return the student to TSD and they will be taken to the residential dorm appropriate to their age and gender to await parental pick up.