Regular Programs

Edmonton Public Schools provides yellow bus services to elementary, junior and senior high students living in rural areas and neighbourhoods without a local school, and where Edmonton Transit service is not available or adequate.

Regular Program Busing Eligibility

• Regular Program (or Regular Receiving) busing is provided by Edmonton Public Schools in neighbourhoods where there is no local neighbourhood school, but only where the walk distance to the designated school is excessive and where ETS service does not meet standards.
• Regular Program busing is obligatory as per provincial law, as opposed to the optional Alternative Program busing.
• Please refer to the Elementary Attendance Area map for initial eligibility and designated school information.
• Eligibility for Regular Program yellow busing includes the following:
  1. Student must be enrolled in the Regular Program (i.e., not an Alternative Program or Special Education Needs Program) and attending their designated school.
  2. Student must live outside the attendance area (walking area) of the neighbourhood in which the designated school is located.
  3. Student must reside inside the transportation service area for the designated school.
  4. Yellow bus must be able to pick-up and drop-off the student within the transportation service area for their designated school.
  5. Generally, student must be in Kindergarten through Grade 6. However, in specific areas of Edmonton where ETS service does not meet standards, students in Grades 7 through 12 have a yellow bus option.

Regular Program Route Information

• Regular Program busing is different than busing for Special Education Needs students, Alternative Program students and Kindergarten Noon students.
• Ride times:
  • Ride times on Regular Program routes may be up to 60 minutes one-way. Our goal is to provide full neighbourhood coverage while minimizing ride times. Currently, the majority of Regular Program riders experience ride times between 15 and 35 minutes. Non-urban or outlying area residents may experience ride times longer than 60 minutes.
• Stop locations:
  • ETS stops and/or the far-side of intersections are the safest stop locations.
• Walk distances:
  • Efforts are made to provide a stop location within 400 meters of the origin or destination.
• Bus stop spacing:
  • Stops are not placed within 400 meters of each other unless walk distances require the placement of closer stops.
• Centralized Stops:
  • In a number of communities, centralized (congregated) stop locations are utilized to access yellow bus service. Centralized stops are placed throughout a community along arterial and major collector roadways.
  • The 400 m maximum walk distance does not apply to communities serviced by centralized stops.
  • Centralized stops are not altered or moved, and no additional stops will be added.
• Roadways:
  • Minimum roadway width of 11 meters.
  • Generally, the main arterial and collector roadways are used.
  • Residential roads are not ideal due to the extra time involved (i.e., more mileage, slower speeds) and the increased risk (i.e., narrower roadways, no snow clearing, more on-street parking, less curb space available for boarding the bus).
  • Roadway must provide throughway (i.e., no dead-ends or cul-de-sacs).
• Network Type:
  • Fixed-Route design.
  • Generally, Regular Program yellow busing is designed to provide stop locations which can service all households within the neighbourhood.
  • Routes are not designed for specific students or situations, but rather for stable, efficient routes with adequate neighbourhood coverage. As a neighbourhood roadway system evolves, changes to the stop location, direction of travel and number of stops may be adjusted. In certain circumstances, the order of the morning (AM) route is reversed for the afternoon (PM) route.
• Coverage:
  • Transportation catchment area coverage for AM, PM and early dismissal (Thursdays if applicable) is offered. Limited Kindergarten Noon service may be available.
• Bus arrival times:
  • Schedule adherence is high and should be within 5 minutes of scheduled time.
• Bus schedule change requests:
  • Stop locations are fixed and change requests may not be accommodated (see Network Type above).
  • Deadlines for the submission of change requests and specific dates when approved changes take effect are noted on the Student Transportation Calendar. Due to the routing complexities and the effects of changes on other riders, requests for change are accommodated on a best-effort basis.

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