School Bus Program

Glossary

This glossary is intended to assist the users of this document in understanding the terms that have been used throughout this document.

Ad-hoc travel
A student that requires occasional travel may be considered as ad-hoc. Ad-hoc travel can be used for, but not limited to, sports training, part time work, social travel to fellow students' residence and so on.

Ad-hoc travel is at the coordinating principal’s discretion to approve or decline.

Bus operator
For the purposes of the School Bus Program, a bus operator is a company or sole trader who is contracted by the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) to operate a school bus service along a specified route. Bus operators must be accredited with Transport Safety Victoria (TSV) and meet safety obligations under the Bus Safety Act 2009.

Client school
A client school is a school whose students use school buses provided under the School Bus Program but the school does not manage the bus service (this is the responsibility of the coordinating school).

Client school principal
The principal of a client school.

Contract vehicle
The contract vehicle is the vehicle specified in the contract between the bus operator and DTP for a particular bus route.

Coordinating principal
The principal of a coordinating school. The responsibilities of a coordinating principal are often delegated to a school bus coordinator.

Coordinating school
A school which is responsible for the management of the local bus network in the School Bus Program.

Dead running
The distance that DTP pays the operator for the vehicle to travel between the overnight garage and the first authorised pick-up point each morning, and the reverse in the afternoon.

DE or the department
The Department of Education.

DTP
The Department of Transport and Planning.

Eligible student
A student who meets the eligibility criteria and is able to travel at no cost (meets criteria 1 to 3 set out in this document).

Fare paying traveller
A student who is ineligible and does not fulfil one of the exempt categories to travel at no cost. The student travels upon payment of a fare.

Ineligible traveller
A student who is not eligible and is either a special category traveller, has an exemption to the eligibility criteria or a fare paying traveller.

Isolated area
Isolated areas are defined as locations that are geographically, professionally and personally isolating with limited logistic support, limited access to peers, in extreme climatic or cross-cultural environments.

Loadings
The number of students accessing a bus service. The coordinating principal must submit their annual confirmed loading data for their bus network to the STU by the end of Term 1 each year. This report details the number of students confirmed to travel on each service in the current year.

Multi-service traveller
A student who is permitted to travel on multiple bus services.

PTV
Public Transport Victoria.

School bus network
A school bus network is made up of all the services coordinated by a particular school.

The network has 1 coordinating school and, where applicable, numerous client schools.

Shortest practicable route
The shortest practicable route between the student’s residence to the main entrance of the school/campus they attend is measured using all-weather public roads drivable by car.

Special category traveller
A student who is ineligible but fulfils one of the exempt categories and is therefore eligible to travel at no cost.

Spur extension
A spur extension is a section of a bus route where the bus moves off the line of the route
and returns back the way it came to continue on the line of the route.

Student Transport and Allowances Branch
The Student Transport and Allowances Branch is made up of 2 units – the Conveyance Allowance Unit (CAU) and the Student Transport Unit (STU).

STU
The Student Transport Unit within the department.

Zoned school
Zoned schools can be identified at Find My School.