School Bus and Pedestrian Safety Day
Learn all about school bus and pedestrian safety at OSTA’s safety day event on Sunday, Aug. 25, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Children can ride a real bus and participate in pedestrian safety training with the Ottawa Safety Council. For more information and to register, visit OSTA’s School Bus Safety web page. OSTA also provides extensive resources on its website, including several age-appropriate bus safety videos, which are easily accessible to parents/guardians. Parents/guardians are encouraged to visit the website with their child(ren) prior to the start of the new school year.
OSTA Parent Web Portal Closed
OSTA’s Parent Web Portal (Bus Stop Finder) will be closed from the end of June until midAugust. The portal will reopen with next year’s transportation information. Please regularly check OSTA’s Bus Planner and social media pages for important transportation announcements, deadlines, and other vital information.
Not using the bus next year? Let OSTA know by declining transportation
Are you eligible for transportation but not using it next year? Decline today. Keeping OSTA informed is important as it allows us to better use available transportation services for those who need them.
Decline transportation here.
Are you Moving or Changing Daycare Providers?
Information accuracy affects OSTA’s planning. Any changes to your home or alternate addresses must be provided to your school. It is critical that parents and guardians provide their school with any changes to home/alternate addresses AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to avoid extended waiting for a transportation change in the fall.
Joint Custody and Transportation to Two Homes – Renewals
Important Deadline – Joint Custody renewals must be done every year.
Apply for Joint Custody Transportation here.
Renewal Joint Custody Forms must be submitted NO LATER THAN June 30 by at least one parent/guardian.
Empty Seats/Courtesy Seating for the 2024-25 School Year
Over the past few years, we have experienced significant disruption to our transportation services due to the driver shortage. Though we are cautiously optimistic that this coming fall's service will roll out smoothly due to our proactive measures, it is difficult to predict driver status. It is not uncommon for drivers to not return after the summer break or to resign early in the school year. As our first priority is to provide reliable transportation to eligible students, the Empty Seats/Courtesy program will NOT be reinstated in September. We will re-evaluate this decision later in the fall when we have better visibility on the status of our services.