Five Mooroopna bus routes were updated and one was added on the Greater Shepparton Secondary College website on Wednesday morning, ahead of school starting on Thursday and Friday.
Changes included the alteration of stops on lines A, C and E, variation of arrival times, and the addition of line V.
Department of Transport spokesperson said the department understood the changes could be “unsettling”.
“We encourage families and students to keep up-to-date by checking the GSSC website and contacting their local bus operators if they have questions,” the spokesperson said.
“When improvements are introduced, we work with the Department of Education, schools and operators to communicate these to students and their families.”
A Department of Education spokesperson said there will be no further changes to bus timetables in term one and the route maps and timetables posted on the Greater Shepparton Secondary College website site were up to date.
The News was also told the school regretted the inconvenience caused by the late changes.
Dyson Shepparton manager Roy Dyson said his bus routes, which service Shepparton, have remained the same since they were created last year.
He said the only significant bus route change for this school year was the interchange point being moved to Skene St at Notre Dame.
“No routes are purely changed - there are some slight changes to the interchange points because the buses don’t go through Shepparton high,” he said.
He said Dysons had added three extra routes – one from Kialla, and two from north to south of the region - to accommodate what he believed would be increased demand.
“More students will be looking for bus travel - that’s our thought,” he said.
“We won’t know until all schools fire up and we’ll know more.”
He said this was the first year all the bus routes were listed online, and this system was “much better”, despite being complex.
“It is quite a complicated network, so they can ring our office and we can provide help.”
He said Dysons worked closely with the Department of Transport to ensure demand was being met.
The Department of Education spokesperson said they were committed to making the transition to Greater Shepparton Secondary College “as easy as possible”, including offering free travel for students during the transition period.
Jacobsons bus company in Mooroopna did not respond to requests for comment.
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