As a new school year fast approaches we often get asked “Am I eligible for a Bus Pass?”. To help answer your questions we’ve put together some simple guidelines to assist with your enquiries.
Firstly you’ll be happy to know that the answer is “Yes” everyone is eligible for a bus pass. However there are different types of passes, so we’ll give you a brief overview below.
Bus Travel Assistance
This is a distance-based travel assistance scheme offered to school aged children travelling to and from school. Eligibility is determined by the location of your residential address in proximity to the nearest state school or non-state school of the type attended. In short, Primary school aged children (Prep – year 6) must live a minimum of 3.2km by the shortest trafficable route to the nearest school and High school aged children (year 7 – 12) must live a minimum 4.8kms by the shortest trafficable route to the nearest school. To make your life a little easier, eligibility is determined by a specific Translink mapping program we have access to in our office. So a quick visit to our office and we should be able to confirm your eligibility on the spot.
Safety Net Assistance
Safety Net Assistance may be available to those who do not meet the distance-based travel assistance scheme but receive government assistance in the form of a Health Card Care, Pension Concession Card or Department of Veterans Affairs Pension Card. Unlike the distance based travel assistance we are unable to advise eligibility on the spot and will need to submit your application for assessment by Translink. In busy periods this can take up to three weeks. Parents will then receive a letter advising the outcome of their eligibility and may be required to visit our office again to collect their children’s pass.
There are two types of passes available for the above assistance schemes:
Full Pass: This pass offers fully subsidised travel to those students that meet the above criteria and are travelling to their nearest state school.
Part Pass: This pass offers subsidised travel to the nearest school with a top up fare payable for the distance travelled to the school attending. The top up fare is based on distance travelled and is determined by the Translink mapping program.
For both transport assistance schemes there is paperwork that you will need to complete and you will need to visit out office to do this. Our bus pass applications is a very busy period in the lead up to school commencing. As mentioned above processing times can take up to three weeks so we encourage all parents to visit us nice and early in the New Year to avoid processing delays.
Translink GO Cards
The other option for school bus travel is the Translink GO Card system. If you are not eligible for either of the above transport assistance schemes you can still get discounted daily fares by using a Go Card. These are available for purchase from your nearest Train Station.
This is just a quick guide to the school bus pass system so if we haven’t specifically answered your question please call our office on 1300 287 525 or pop in and visit us at 2 Motorway Drive, Burpengary.