At HWDSB, the consortium Hamilton-Wentworth Student Transportation Services (HWSTS) provides safe, effective and efficient transportation services to eligible students. This may occur using traditional yellow-and-black school buses, school purpose vans, taxi or Hamilton Street Railway transit.
To learn more, please visit www.hamiltonschoolbus.ca.
Eligibility for transportation is determined by HWDSB policy. Visit the HWSTS website’s Bus Stop Finder to find your child’s bus stop and more information.
HWSTS contacts families each August with instructions on how to find bus times and locations. Parents with children starting kindergarten receive their bus stop information by mail. Click here to learn how to sign up for HWSTS’ online portal.
Learn about bell times and the recent Bell Time Study.
Eligibility
Students residing within all urban and rural areas as defined by the “Official Plans” and prepared by the local municipality, will be eligible for transportation services to their in-catchment school when the walking distance exceeds the following:
- Elementary School, Kindergarten students: 1.2 km
- Elementary School, grades 1 to 8 students, 1.6 km
- Secondary School, grades 9 to 12 students, 3.2 km
Learn more in the HWDSB Transportation Policy.
Delays
HWSTS maintains a Parent Portal. By registering with this tool, families can receive email updates when a morning or afternoon bus delay occurs. Delays are also found on the HWSTS website.
In addition, bus delays are posted to the website of the affected HWDSB schools. To avoid duplication with the HWSTS portal, HWDSB does not send its website subscribers a second email about a bus delay.
Severe weather
The decision to remain open or to close is always made with the safety and security of our students and staff in mind. When a decision to close is made, it is does so in conjunction with our colleagues at the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board based on relevant information at that time.
School Boards across Ontario have varying policies about the cancellation of schools. At HWDSB, the cancellation of transportation due to inclement weather immediately triggers the closure of our schools.
Please remember, as a parent/guardian you always have the choice on whether or not to send your child to school. HWDSB will NOT post a weather alert on its website to signal that schools are open.
Learn more about severe weather cancellations.
FirstView App
HWSTS is piloting a bus tracking and communication app for families. The desktop and smartphone app, FirstView, is ONLY available for students riding First Student buses. This service is not currently available for students who access other HWSTS bus operators. Families can access their HWSTS Parent Portal accounts to find information about their bus operator.
The FirstView app offers features such as live tracking, bus proximity notifications, custom alerts and messages, multi-stop view and more. Families of First Student riders can visit www.firstviewapp.com to learn more about the service and download the app. Users will need to enter the district code provided via email to register a password-protected account so only families can view their child’s bus stop.
Contact transportation staff
Families are encouraged to visit the HWSTS website to learn more, and to feel free to contact the HWSTS offices at (905) 523-2318 or 1-800-691-6402 with any questions.
Please also visit the HWSTS FAQ web page.
Updated on Monday, March 04, 2024.