Student Transportation

Private, Parochial, Charter, and Career & Technical Education Transportation Request

** Update **
2022-2023 School Year Open Enrollment begins on May 1, 2022

Please register for the Statewide Transportation using the online student registration form below.

Request Transportation Form

General transportation deadlines/information

Transportation requests for the Fall of each new school year must be received by July 31^st if you require bus service on the first day of school. If you do not require service until later in the school year, please register 10 business days prior to the expected start date. You will receive a letter to confirm your child's bus stop information 10 business days before school starts.

Transportation request forms submitted on or after August 1^st of each year requesting service for the first day of school may receive a temporary bus stop assignment. Parents/Guardians will be notified of their temporary stop time and location by phone before the first day of school.

For students who receive a temporary stop assignment, permanent bus stop information will be provided by phone beginning the week of September 20, 2021.

Pre-K students are not eligible for transportation.

Transportation requests for students with disabilities are submitted by the resident district's Special Education Administrator and parents should NOT use this online request form.

Please allow 4 business days from date of notification for all transportation requests to be processed by our office. During this time, Transportation will create or adjust the route, issue a new or revised route sheet, and notify the bus company who will inform the driver of the information.

Reimbursement for Transportation for COVID-related reasons, September 2020

Form for LEAs

Form for Parents

Out of District Transportation

School districts participating in the Statewide Transportation System for students traveling out of district

To become eligible for transportation:

1. You must reside in one of the participating districts listed above.
2. You may only travel within your designated region below.
3. Transportation is provided to and from your resident district.
4. Regions do not apply for students with disabilities.

* Although all of the above districts participate in the statewide program, there are some routes that remain at the district level.
* Aunque todos los distritos anteriores participan en el programa estatal, hay algunas rutas que quedan a nivel del distrito.

Students with Disabilities

Parents/Guardians of students with disabilities must request transportation through their local school district special education administrator.

The special education administrator will complete the student data form along with any pertinent information regarding the well being of the student.

The administrator's office will forward the transportation request to the System Manager’s office.

Opt in to receive text alerts on your cell phone:

Opt-in instructions (in English and Spanish)

Transportation Holidays

Bus service is not available from the Statewide Transportation System on the following Federal and State Holidays and days on which state statutes require public schools to be closed:

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King Day
• Memorial Day
• Fourth of July 
• Victory Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Election Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

Vacaciones de transporte

El Departamento de transportación estatal no proporcionar servicio de transporte de autobús escolar en los días de vacaciones del Gobierno Federal y Estatal al igual que los dias la cual la leyes estatales requieren que las escuelas publicas esten cerrada:

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King Day
• Memorial Day
• Fourth of July 
• Victory Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Election Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day
   

Inclement Weather and Emergency Closing/Delay Policy Information

The RIDE Statewide Transportation Program has UPDATED the Inclement Weather/Emergency Closing/Delay policy for the 2021-22 SY. Below is a highlight of what’s changed.

1.    School Closings: When a school of attendance makes the choice to remain open after the city or town a school is located in has chosen to close. If the students school district is open and the school of attendance is also posted as open, then statewide transportation will be provided bus service on this day . example: RIBA posting - Sargent Center open Monday 12/3/21 . Please Note; The school of attendance MUST post the choice to remain open with the RI Broadcasters Association before 11:30pm the night before the weather event to receive SW service. Any “ school open” posts after 11:30pm will result in no Statewide service if the schools location is inside a closed school district.

2.    Delay: Any district or out placement school which posts a delay to the start of school, Statewide Transportation routes associated with that school or district will run on a standard 2-hour delay.

3.    SMS Text Alerts: Text alerts for closings, delays or early dismissals will be sent to all Statewide families by the system managers office before the start of school on the day of the weather event.

Click on a link below for more information:

• Inclement Weather/Emergency Closing/Delay Policy (in English and en Español) [DOC]
• Examples Of School Closing Situations - English / En Español
• FAQ - English / En Español
• Route Reference Tables For All Schools (Routes Affected By District) – AM / PM [updated on February 03, 2022]

Rhode Island has in the past few years made an active effort to streamline and make more efficient services provided to its citizens. This is needed both to improve the quality of the services provided and to use scarce fiscal resources to achieve maximum results. Rhode Island’s school districts are facing many dilemmas in meeting student needs with little or no increases in funding, and look to the state for not only direct education aid, but also for statewide solutions to issues not easily handled on a district by district basis. A top priority for both school districts and the state is a single statewide, efficient and well run transportation system for special education, non-public and other students who must go out of their school district for their education.

The Rhode Island General Assembly recently initiated the creation of a statewide transportation system for out-of-district special education and non-public school students under an amendment to Sections 16-21.1-7 and 16-21.1-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-21.12 entitled "Transportation of School Pupils Beyond City and Town Limits.” Ultimately, a statewide transportation system for all students that will encompass both within district and out-of-district transportation is planned with the out-of-district component as the first phase of this work.

Several geographic and demographic attributes unique to Rhode Island favor this initiative, including the state’s limited total land area and the second highest state population density in the United States.

The requirement for participation by all Rhode Island school districts (with an exception at this time for those districts that primarily own and operate their own systems) has been mandated by the State.

Currently RIDE's program is managed by Transpar Group with transportation services provided by First Student and Ocean State Transit.

Requirements for Vehicles and Licensing

• Requirements for Vehicles and Licensing - General Overview

6.10.3 Transportation

1. Transportation services for children with disabilities.
   1. Responsibility. All students with disabilities who need special transportation as a related service and as determined by the evaluation process and described in the individual education program (IEP) shall be provided such service. It shall include free transportation from home to the educational program in which the child is enrolled. It shall also include free transportation to and from the clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic facilities when the clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic services are necessary to complete the child's evaluation or to provide the services required in the child's IEP.
   2. Specific Requirements.
      1. Appropriate devices, which accommodate specific transportation needs of the child, must be provided on an individualized basis.
      2. A minimum of one (1) aide must be assigned to each bus used for special transportation. Such aide, in addition to providing general care and supervision to all children with disabilities on such bus, shall also provide assistance (from street level entrance of the child's dwelling) to such children lacking the mobility to leave the home and board transportation vehicles, and shall further assist such children in disembarking the vehicle and entering school. When children are transported to clinical, diagnostic or therapeutic facilities, determination of whether a bus aide is necessary shall be based on the judgment of the IEP Team.
      3. School districts shall provide in-service training for administrative personnel, drivers and aides providing special education transportation services in order that they may effectively deal with the children with disabilities and understand the issues and concerns of the parents of such children.
      4. Scheduling of transportation vehicles shall be planned whenever possible in such a manner as to provide for the least amount of travel time necessary to transport children with disabilities from home to school and back home again. When travel time for children with disabilities who are receiving special transportation is found to exceed one (1) hour to or from the location of special education services, the parent(s) shall be notified in writing. This notice will include the reason(s) for the duration of the travel time and the notification must include a description of the parent(s) right to an appeal. The school district will submit a copy of the notification to the Director of the Office of Student, Community and Academic Supports at RIDE. This notice will include the reason(s) for the duration of the travel time.
      5. All vehicles used in the transportation of children with disabilities as a related service shall be equipped with two-way communication devices in case of an emergency.

Employment Opportunities with the private bus contractors who operate on the Statewide System:

• First Student Rhode Island job openings
• DATTCO Rhode Island job openings
• Amaral RI and MA job openings