Drive to 5 maps help make school zones safer by promoting safe and legal parking areas 2-5 minutes away from the school. The maps help parents reduce emissions and congestion near schools, and students get a few extra steps in!
Our School Travel Planning team addresses barriers to active travel to make walking and wheeling an easier choice for families.
Contact the Operator for lost items. To do this you will need to know your student’s bus route.
To find this information, log into your Parent Portal.
To ensure that your student is not mistakenly placed on a bus, please complete the ‘Decline or Reinstate Transportation’ digital form. To have your student back on the bus after being removed, and if your student is still eligible for transportation, please complete the same digital form again.
Please note: If your student will occasionally be riding the bus, do not complete this form. For safety reasons, it is highly recommended that young children have a consistent travel arrangement.
For the latest daily delays, check the Delays and Cancellations
STSWR will advise, via the media and the STSWR website, of any bus cancellations due to weather. In most cases these notifications will be sent out before 7am on the day of the cancellation. Should the weather deteriorate during the day causing an early dismissal, parents/caregivers will be contacted by the school prior to the students being sent home.
For the quickest updates/notifications, please create an account on the Parent Portal by clicking here.
Updates regarding cancellations are also posted on our social media pages:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/STSWR/
Instagram – @student.transportation.stswr
Our interactive database provides the ability to select the current school year or next school year in order to retrieve school boundary and transportation information for your student.
Attendance boundaries are updated in the early Spring.
Busing eligibility and route numbers for the new school year are available in the last week of August.
No. Without a written notice from Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR), no bus driver is authorized to make changes to your student’s bus stop or bus schedule.
You must contact your student’s school directly to make any changes to your student’s information, such as changing your address.
Once the school has updated the address and if the student is eligible, the bus route will assigned by the STSWR transportation planner.
If you are moving and want to know if your new address is eligible for busing, click here.
Driving might feel like the quickest option, but school zones can get busy and that “quick drop-off” might turn into a stressful wait in traffic. More cars around schools can create crowded, unsafe conditions for students and even slow down your own morning routine. Schools are intentionally placed in neighbourhoods so most families can walk or bike easily. An alternative to dropping your student off at school would be to “Drive to 5”. View the maps here.
Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR) uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to calculate the distance for transportation eligibility. Distances are measured from the end of your property to the closest access point to the school–not door to door. The maps used are provided by the Region of Waterloo, not Google Maps, and include designated pathways and access points. Find your student’s transportation eligibility here.
