An updated school bus schedule was released online yesterday on the eve of public schools reopening across the island.

The schedule lists the bus routes servicing 22 schools, broken down by parish.

Walter Roban, the Minister of Transport and Regulatory Affairs, said the ministry was making every effort to ensure a positive start to the school year.

Mr Roban said: “Our team at the Department of Public Transport has spent considerable time and energy planning to make sure our role in this process — to provide safe and reliable transportation for our students — is achieved.

“Our goal is for every student to get to and from school safely and on time.

“This work is being done in co-operation with our partners at the Ministry of Education and other key stakeholders.”

A spokeswoman for the DPT said that while the routes listed specifically targeted schools, parents should use the schedule in conjunction with the general public bus schedule.

She said: “Particularly in the mornings, students are strongly encouraged to take the first available bus that will get them to their school.”

The Government said on Friday that the schedule would combine with the public bus timetable to ensure that “all schools are serviced”, with CedarBridge Academy and the Berkeley Institute to have “dedicated buses at the end of each school day”.

Victoria Pearman, the Ombudsman for Bermuda, voiced “significant concerns” on Friday about the lack of communication about the schedule.

She said it was “important that full and accurate information be provided” by the DPT, and given the widest possible distribution, including to parent-teacher associations.

The schedule can be seen online at gov.bm/special-school-bus-schedule-fall-2018.