FAQs
Take a look at our most frequently asked questions below.
If you can’t find your answers, please contact a member of our team.
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For our full T&C’s please refer to the “Provision of Home to School Transport, Terms and Conditions” on our website, which you will have read and agreed to prior to the purchase of the pass. Passes are issued for a period from the start of the school term in August one year, to the end of the school year in July of the next. Persons entering into an agreement are aware of their commitment to pay for the entire school year as cancellations can only be considered under the strictest of circumstances, and a minimum of 8 weeks’ notice is required. All refunds given are at our sole discretion and would not be on a pro-rata basis of the number of days left for travel as the costs include charges other than the travel element. No refunds will be made for cancellations received after 1st February.
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On vehicles where we issue bus passes, drivers have a hand-held scanner that records the data on the pass and authorises them to accept that pass for travel, as well as the time and date of travel. If the pass for any reason has been cancelled (e.g., For non-payment) the scanner will show that travel is to be refused. However, on vehicles where the driver does not have a scanner, they will carry out a visual check of the pass. Any problems with passes will be reported to us and appropriate action will be taken.
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Apart from the control of revenue, the bus pass system ensures that loadings on the bus are regulated so that everybody has a seat. Without this management there is a risk that students, who are entitled to travel and who board at the last pick up point in the morning, would not have a seat on the bus. The bus pass can also help the driver to identify any child whose behaviour is unacceptable. Experience shows that poor behaviour is encouraged if children feel that they cannot be identified.
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Drivers are instructed to check bus passes on every journey in order to get children into the habit of showing a bus pass. The same driver might not drive the bus every day or in the morning and afternoon. The driver will not necessarily therefore know whether a child is entitled to travel on the bus or not.
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If a student boards in the first morning without a pass, the driver will note the name and allow travel home that afternoon only.
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As all parents/carer have paid to have their child(ren) travel, it would simply not be fair to allow travel to nonfarepayers. We do appreciate that from time to time this may be required, but in all circumstances the parents of the child should contact us to make arrangements for this to happen. A fee will be payable.
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A ‘no pass, no travel’ rule has to be applied, as not only is it fraudulent to try to gain travel which has not been paid for, but also buses may be overloaded and therefore unsafe because of the number of students travelling who should not be on the bus.
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A new pass should ideally be ordered on the first day of the loss, but certainly by the next day to avoid travel on buses being refused, or on the pay-per-travel buses, a charge being made for travel. A fee of £10.00 is made to replace passes and any additional costs of travel will not be refunded.
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A temporary pass cannot be issued by a school. All passes are controlled by Passenger Travel Solutions Ltd.
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There are no exceptions to this rule, as we are the issuing authority for all passes.
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It is accepted that passes can be misplaced rather than lost. However, after 3 days of not presenting the pass, it will be cancelled and a new one issued at a cost of £10.00. It is important that you contact us after 2 days to allow a decision to be made as to how long can be given to replace find it.
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Students are normally allocated a place on the nearest available bus to their home address. In some instances, it may be the only vehicle available. Once a permanent bus pass has been issued, it is not possible to transfer to another available bus to accommodate personal preferences without first consulting Passenger Travel Solutions Ltd. Sometimes, transfer requests are received because of bullying. In these cases, we would launch an investigation along with the school to deal with the cause of the bullying in the first instance but a transfer may be considered in exceptional circumstances, provided the bus is not overloaded.
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Our bus pass prices are for priced for daily return travel into school for the full academic year, they are based on full usage of the service over the three school terms.