Everything you need to know about your child's ride.

Enrollment is managed through the School District of Philadelphia's transportation department, not directly through Alta Bus. Contact your child's school or the district transportation office to apply. Once the district approves the assignment, they send us your child's route details — you don't need to contact us separately to get started.

At least 5 minutes before the scheduled pickup time. Our routes are planned around real Philadelphia traffic and school bell schedules, and we run them as close to on-time as possible. Being a few minutes early ensures your child doesn't miss the bus if we're running slightly ahead.

Up to 2 minutes. This keeps the route on schedule for every other family on board. If your child misses the bus, make sure they're safe, then contact their school to notify them of the absence. You can also call our support line if you have a concern about the route.

We notify families via the contact information your school has on file — typically phone or SMS. For same-day delays, we send updates as early as we can. For planned schedule or route changes, we give advance notice through the district's communication channels.

First, make sure your child is safe. Then notify your child's school directly — they manage attendance. If you believe there was an error with the route (the bus didn't show, arrived significantly early, etc.), call our support line and we'll look into it right away.

Address changes must go through your school or the district's transportation department first — they control route assignments. Once they update the records and notify us, allow 5–10 school days for the change to appear on your child's route. Calling Alta Bus directly to change an address won't update the district's records.

Call our support line as soon as you can. Drivers turn in found items at the end of each route, and we hold them for 5 business days. The sooner you call, the easier it is to locate the item and the specific bus it was on.

Yes — every Alta Bus driver is background-checked, fingerprinted, drug-tested, and completes our full safety training program before their first day on any route. There are no exceptions. You can read more about our driver standards on the Safety page.

No — notify your child's school directly. They handle attendance, and our drivers are informed by the route, not by individual family calls. If your child will be absent for an extended period, ask your school's transportation contact to note it so the route can be managed appropriately.

Call our Philadelphia office directly. We're staffed Monday through Friday, 5 AM – 6 PM during the school year. For urgent safety concerns outside those hours, leave a voicemail and a team member will respond within 30 minutes. We do not route calls to a national center — you'll reach someone who knows your routes.