Transportation FAQ

Annually, during the last week of August, transportation assignments will be sent out by email and mail. Bus assignments will also be available in the Zum parent app (download app here).

If you have any questions about what type of transportation your student will receive this school year, you can refer to the Eligibility page on our website, available by clicking here. Any time a student's transportation assignment is updated throughout the school year, we will send out an updated bus assignment by email and mail and update your child's bus assignment in the Zum parent app.

Transportation for all students in grades 7-12 will be by MBTA trains and buses, with the exception of those students who receive specialized transportation services in accordance with their Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 Plan.

MBTA passes will be available for pickup from schools on the first day of school in the fall. Students can ride the MBTA to school for free on the first day of school.

Alternative Transportation Requests can be submitted to request that your child is picked up and/or dropped off at an alternate address including before/after school programs, a babysitter's home, etc. This can be requested even if a student is not eligible for transportation between home and school.

Additionally, we will review requests for:

• Waivers for Bus Transportation (instead of MBTA)
• Sibling Ridership
• MBTA Pass Opt-In (for 6th Grade Students)
• Transportation Opt Out
• Transportation Reinstatement

Please visit our Transportation Change Requests page for more information. Request forms can be submitted through our Support Portal by clicking here.

Any Requests received by the first Friday in August are guaranteed to be reviewed in time for the start of school. Additional requests are reviewed in the order they are received. Processing time may take up to 3 weeks.

Note: Corner bus stops can be up to 0.5 miles from a student's home address. Unfortunately, we are unable to review requests for new corner stops, except in the case of safety concerns.

We understand circumstances for families may change throughout this year. Therefore, we offer families who have previously opted out of bus transportation the ability to reinstate bus service.

Please click here to submit a form to request that bus service be reinstated for your child.

Please note:

• This form will be approved as long as your child is still eligible for transportation.
• Reinstatement of bus service will take 10-15 days in most cases. You will receive a notification of your student's new bus assignment in the mail when it is ready.

Families are welcome to opt their child(ren) out of yellow bus transportation if they prefer to utilize alternative transportation options, such as walking, biking, or family-provided transportation.

If you currently have a yellow bus transportation assignment but would now like to opt-out, you can submit a request to opt out of transportation online by clicking here.

This page will be updated regularly as additional information becomes available. In addition, families can contact us by emailing schoolbus@bostonpublicschools.org or submitting a support ticket in our Support Portal online by clicking here. 

During the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, due to a number of factors, including a national school bus driver shortage, BPS experienced a shortage of school bus drivers. To address the shortage, BPS worked to optimize and consolidate bus routes and recruit and retain additional bus drivers. Efforts also included, along with our bus vendor, introducing new CDL training pathways for new driver hires, introducing hiring and referral bonuses, and increasing marketing and recruitment efforts, along with other efforts.

We anticipate that our contractor will be fully staffed for bus drivers at the start of the 2024-25 school year. Regardless, many factors impact daily driver availability, including driver attendance on the day of. In the rare circumstance that we do not have a driver available for a route at its scheduled time, you will receive a push notification through the Zum app on the day your student’s bus service will be impacted.

If you do not plan to have your student take yellow bus transportation to school, please notify us as soon as possible to free up spaces on buses for other students. To let us know, just call us at 617-635-9520 or visit our Support Portal and submit a "Request to Opt Out of Transportation."

We apologize for the inconvenience caused by any service disruptions and will continue to take every step we can to meet the needs of our students.

We anticipate the Sumner Tunnel will experience full closure from July 5, 2024 through August 5, 2024. The vast majority of our schools will open for the 2024-25 school year after this date. For families and schools that may start earlier or experience impacts from this closure, we will work to stay in communication with families on any delays. We apologize for any inconvenience.