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Welcome to Transportation

About the Department of Transportation
School buses have proven to be the safest form of transportation in the nation. In Aiken County, we transport approximately 13,400 students to and from school each day on school buses.

Transportation Emergency Hotline
In the event of a true emergency involving transportation, please call (803) 593-7201, press Option 9 to get immediate assistance. 
  
Registered Riders
Only students registered with the transportation department with assigned bus stops will be permitted to ride the bus. Students are assigned one bus stop only and may not ride home with friends or to unassigned bus stops.

Kindergarten - 2nd Grade
Parent/guardian (listed on student registration form) must be at the bus stop to receive their kindergarten - second grade child unless they are riding home with an older sibling.  If the parent/guardian is not at the stop to receive the child, he/she will be returned to the school.  If the child is returned to school three times, transportation privileges will be denied. 

Student Discipline
Student bus-related discipline issues are handled by the school administration. Concerns regarding student bus discipline may be directed to an assistant principal or an area transportation supervisor. Additional information regarding bus discipline may be received by referencing the transportation section of the District's Code of Student Conduct Handbook.

Coordination and Maintenance of Buses
Although our school buses are funded and owned by the state of South Carolina, we coordinate and manage the routing of buses and oversee the performance of the bus drivers locally. Buses are routed according to state law and regulations. Maintenance and servicing of the buses is handled by the State Department of Education, Office of Transportation - Aiken/Johnston Bus Shop.

At Ï㽶ӰÊÓ Transportation, we hope to make your child’s school bus experience safe, pleasant and efficient.

Each school has a list of school buses serving them.  You can find that information on our web page under the Routes tab.

Before the first day make sure your child knows his or her home address (street name and house number), telephone number and bus route number.

Please help your child understand and obey all school bus rules.  These rules appear in your child’s “Student Handbook”.  Here is some of the most important information to keep in mind.

1. On the first day of school, your child should wait outside your home for the bus. The bus driver will tell your child where to wait for the bus after that.
2. Your child needs to begin riding the bus right away. We need to know exactly how many students will ride each bus as soon as possible.  For instance, new students may have moved to your area over the summer.  As a result, we may need to adjust bus pick-up times, drop-off times or even the route itself in order to make your child’s ride shorter and more comfortable.  We also use this information to justify additional routes or buses.
3. Your child’s bus route will stabilize within two weeks. Once this happens. There should be no more than a 10-minute fluctuation in times from day to day.
4. After the first 20 school days, state law prohibits the district from operating overloaded school buses. If we need to make some adjustments, we will do so after the first two weeks of school and notify you accordingly.

It is not unusual for pick-up and drop-off times to fluctuate by five to 10 minutes.  Because of this, please wait until your child’s bus is more than 10 minutes late before calling the appropriate Transportation Supervisor.

If you have questions/concerns, it would be helpful if you called after the morning bus routes.

Parents/Guardians

All students must be registered and assigned a bus stop location prior to riding a school bus.  Once the transportation department receives your child’s registration form we have three days to evaluate a safe stop location, approve it, notify driver and establish a stop.  No one shall register and ride on the same day.    

Registered school bus riders are allowed one pick up location in the AM and one drop off location in the PM.  Students are not allowed to get on or off the bus at any other location.  Notes/phone calls will not be accepted/approved requesting a different stop location for a student.  We realize emergencies occur, these situations will be addressed as needed.

Parent/guardian or an adult authorized by a parent/guardian must be at the school bus stop to receive their kindergarten – second grade child, unless they are riding with an older sibling.  Failure to do so will result in the child being returned to the school.  If this occurs three times, the child will be denied transportation for the remainder of the semester.  

No student is to cross a four lane roadway system at any time when engaged in school bus transportation services.  If your child’s bus stop location is across a two lane roadway, the student must wait for the bus to arrive, lights are flashing RED and the driver signals for the student to cross.  Students should be paying attention and listening to the driver when boarding, crossing a roadway or exiting a school bus, the driver is monitoring the situation and will alert them of any danger.  Students are not to wear any type of ear phones while boarding, crossing a roadway or exiting a school bus.