The School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) provides eligible school students with free or subsidised travel between home and school. All students wishing to travel on Symons Bus services to and from school should check their eligibility and apply through Transport for NSW.
Am I eligible?
Not every school student is automatically entitled to subsidised travel. To be eligible, a student must be a NSW resident aged 4.5 years or older and enrolled as one of the following:
- Kindergarten to Year 2 — eligible regardless of the distance between home and school
- Years 3–6 (Primary) — must live more than 1.6 km (radial distance) from school, or 2.3 km or more by the most direct practical walking route
- Years 7–12 (Secondary) — must live more than 2 km (radial distance) from school, or 2.9 km or more by the most direct practical walking route
Students with a disability who are unable to travel under the SSTS may be eligible for assistance under the Department of Education Assisted School Travel Program.
If there is no public transport service near your home, you may be eligible for the School Drive Subsidy — which helps offset the cost of driving your child to school or to the nearest transport pick-up point. Find out more at Transport NSW ↗
Apply for a school travel pass
Applications are made online through Transport for NSW. You will need an email address and the application takes around 5 minutes. It must be completed in one session — you cannot save and return to it later.
You may need to have the following ready before you start:
- For shared parental situations — select ‘yes’ when prompted during the application
- For non-Australian residents — the student’s visa subclass category number (found on the Visa Grant Notice or inside their passport)
- For exchange students — the name of the exchange program
- For students with a medical condition — a completed Medical Report and Certificate (PDF)
Using your school travel pass
School travel passes can only be used for approved travel on school days, between the student’s home and school or TAFE college, between 6.30am and 7.00pm (TAFE students: 6.30am–9.30pm).
Free school travel passes do not cover travel to or from:
- Before and after school care or child-minding premises
- Before and after school activities
- School excursions
- Sports events
- Work experience
- Vocational Education and Training (VET) at a location away from the student’s enrolled school
- Multi-campus high schools, weekend schools, pre-schools or mini-schools (except full-time geographically isolated distance education students)
Students must comply with the Student Code of Conduct when travelling.
Collecting your pass
Upon boarding the bus, the driver may have your pass ready to hand to your child. For any assistance, please contact our office on (02) 4476 4827 between 9am and 3pm on weekdays.
For full details on the School Student Transport Scheme, visit Transport for NSW — School Student Travel ↗