School Charter Bus Booking Guide
Cal Poly Charter Bus Request Form
How To Book A Charter Bus
1. Go to SLO Safe Ride’s Cal Poly Charter Bus Request Form https://slosaferide.com/cal-poly/.
2. Fill in all of the information requested on the form.
3. At the bottom, select “I would like to officially book this transportation” or “I would like to receive a quote and will decide to book later”. If you choose “I would like to officially book this transportation” skip all the way to Step 6.
4. You will receive a quote for this transportation by email within three business days.
5. Respond to the quote and let us know you would like to move forward with the booking.
6. You will receive a confirmation email that you are officially booked for your trip! In the email, you will receive a Work Ticket containing your trip itinerary and you will receive a ProForma Invoice containing the price. You will also receive a login to SLO Safe Ride’s booking portal.
7. Once you receive the confirmation email from SLO Safe Ride, then you are officially booked!
After Booking The Trip - Before The Trip Date
8. Review the Work Ticket to make sure that the following is correct. You’ll want to triple-check as this is the information our drivers will receive and follow exactly…
– Pickup Times
– Drop Off Times
– Dates
– Vehicle Sizes
– Instructions
9. If there are any TBD or missing times or locations on your work ticket, send all of this information to SLO Safe Ride by email at least two weeks before the trip. SLO Safe Ride will verify that the itinerary is feasible and that the bus can safely fit at all locations once that information is received.
We prefer you send over the information sooner so that if we catch any problems with your itinerary, there is time to work out an alternate plan.
After The Trip Is Completed
10. You will receive an invoice from SLO Safe Ride’s billing department for the trip. The payment is due within 30 days, so please send the invoice to Cal Poly’s billing department as soon as possible so they can meet this deadline.
11. You will receive a feedback link with your invoice. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to improve our service. Or just let us know that you had a great trip!
FAQs
WHAT IF I WANT TO SUBMIT A PDF, WORD, OR EXCEL FILE WITH MY TRIP INFORMATION?
You can email an itinerary attachment to “CalPolyBusServices@gmail.com”. In the email, please make sure to include all of the information listed below under “What is the minimum amount of information needed to reserve a bus?”.
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY TRIP IS OFFICIALLY BOOKED?
As backup support for the booking, you can reference the Work Ticket which has the vehicle information, dates, times, and locations. As a second backup, you can view all booked trips in our booking portal. On our booking portal, you can view all of the trips that you have booked. To access the booking portal, visit https://portal.slosaferide.com. Your login and password will be emailed to you when you reserve a vehicle.
CAN I MAKE CHANGES TO MY TRIP ONCE IT IS BOOKED?
As backup support for the booking, you can reference the Work Ticket which has the vehicle information, dates, times, and locations. As a second backup, you can view all booked trips in our booking portal. On our booking portal, you can view all of the trips that you have booked. To access the booking portal, visit https://portal.slosaferide.com. Your login and password will be emailed to you when you reserve a vehicle.
WHAT IF WE REQUEST A TRIP AND THE BUS CANNOT FIT AT ONE OF THE LOCATIONS?
We try our best to use our resources to catch this in advance. If we do, we will let you know and we will need to find an alternative plan. Sometimes we learn new information, near the trip date or while on the trip, that a stop is not safe. If that is the case then we will get as close as we safely can to the location or come up with an alternative plan. It is the booking party’s responsibility to make sure there is plenty of room for a bus to enter, drop off, and turn around at each location. If you are not sure if a location is large enough for a motor coach, please ask us to vet the location before booking the trip. This includes parking accommodations at each stop.
WHAT IS THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF INFORMATION NEEDED TO RESERVE A BUS?
To reserve a bus with SLO Safe Ride, we need the following information: Your contact information, the billing contact information, the dates of the trip, the number of passengers, the start time of each day of the trip, the end time of each day of the trip, the start location of each day of the trip, the end location of each day of the trip, the number of passengers that are High School Age or younger, the amount of luggage/supplies, if a bathroom is required, and the number of passengers in a wheelchair.
HOW FAR IN ADVANCE DO I NEED TO BOOK?
There is no set answer to this question. However, there are many advantages to booking buses as far in advance as you can.
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There is a better chance that we have the equipment available to suit your transportation needs.
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There is more time to work out the details of the itinerary and decide exactly where the buses will go at every stop.
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Your department saves 2.75% on all bookings made 90 days or more in advance of your charter date.
WHAT IS YOUR CANCELLATION POLICY?
All cancellations must be submitted in writing. A change of charter date constitutes a cancellation of the present charter. A change to a smaller vehicle constitutes a cancellation of the present charter. Cancellations made 15 days or more from the charter date will have no fees owed to SLO Safe Ride. Cancellations made 8 to 14 days prior to the charter will still be invoiced for 50% of the quoted trip price. Cancellations made 0 to 7 days prior to the charter will still be invoiced for 100% of the trip price. Playoff cancelations will be invoiced for 25% of the trip price.
HOW ARE THE TRIPS PRICED?
This quote is based on services requested and our contracted rates and minimums with Cal Poly. In the event of a change in service or rate, this contract will be amended or replaced with a new agreement. A SLO Safe Ride managerial associate must check and approve all itineraries for compliance with the terms listed in this contract. Upon completion of the charter, additional time or mileage exceeding the original itinerary will be added to the invoice. The chauffeur does not have the authority to waive these charges. Hourly and mileage rates begin and end at the SLO Safe Ride vehicle depot. For overnight trips, hours and mileage begin at the bus driver’s hotel. Cal Poly is responsible for the payment of any tolls, driver hotel rooms, parking fees, entry fees (i.e. national parks), or other fees incurred by any SLO Safe Ride vehicle.
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In addition to the transportation cost, a fuel surcharge will be added to all invoices. If gasoline or diesel fuel costs increase above the appropriate eia.gov index (https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel) for U.S. On-Highway Regular Gasoline Prices for the West Coast (PADDS) for the third week of November 2021 ($4.169), or U.S. On-Highway Diesel Fuel Prices West Coast (PADDS) – California ($4.769), a price adjustment will be made monthly during the contract term, based on the difference between the index for the first week of each month and the base index price. This adjustment will apply to the full month and will be based on the mpg fleet average fuel consumption for the vehicle chartered. The fuel surcharge will be made on a pass-through basis without markup on each invoice.