Overview
Exceptions help School Admins quickly identify when something unexpected has occurred during a student's bus journey.
An exception does not always mean something has gone wrong. Some exceptions are informational, while others may indicate that a student's booking, stop allocation, scan media, or travel behaviour should be reviewed.
Exceptions can be viewed directly on the Transport Screen and are also available through RollCall reporting.
No exception showing?
If the Exception column beside a student is blank, no exception has been recorded for that trip.
Quick Guide to Exceptions
| Exception | What does it mean? | Should I investigate? |
|---|---|---|
| Casual Traveller | The student is configured as a Casual rather than a Bus Traveller. (Booking Option) | Usually no |
| No Card | The student was manually scanned ON/OFF rather than using their card/tag. | Yes |
| Not Allocated | The student travelled without being allocated to a stop on that route. | Yes |
| Not Travelled | The student had a booking but did not Scan ON. | Sometimes |
| Off Stop | The student scanned outside the geofence of a route stop. | Yes |
| Wrong Stop | The student scanned within the geofence of a different stop. | Yes |
| Route Auto-Complete | The route was completed by an Admin or automatically by RollCall rather than the Driver. | Yes |
| Suspended | Student/travel suspension exception. | Yes |
Understanding Each Exception
Casual Traveller
What does it mean?
The student's Booking Option is configured as Casual rather than Bus Traveller.
Do I need to do anything?
Usually, no.
This can be expected behaviour for students who use the bus on an ad-hoc basis.
If the student should instead be a regular traveller, review their Booking Option in their Student settings.
No Card
What does it mean?
A No Card exception generally means the student was manually scanned ON or OFF rather than using their registered card or tag.
Common examples:
What should I check?
For occasional No Card exceptions, no maintenance may be required.
If the same student is repeatedly receiving No Card exceptions:
- Confirm they have their card/tag.
- Confirm their Student Code (card information) is correct.
- Message to Parent to advise (Penalties if applicable)
Tip: Repeated No Card exceptions are worth investigating. They may indicate an issue with the student's card rather than simply a forgotten card.
Related Guide: About Scan Media (Tags and Cards)
Not Allocated
What does it mean?
The student has travelled without being allocated to a designated stop on that route.
This can occur when:
- The student is not booked on by a Parent or School Admin,
- The student boards using their card/tag without an existing booking, or
- The student boards using their card/tag to a different Route than the one allocated
What should I check?
Review the student's booking and confirm that they are:
- Booked onto the correct route and allocated to the correct stop
- Check the Bus Changes & Absences Report to see if the Parent had made a Short-Term Bus Change
Approve Not Allocated
Routes can also use Approve Not Allocated.
When enabled, the Driver receives a warning when a student attempts to board without an allocated booking and must decide whether to accept the student onto the bus.
To review this setting:
Settings → Routes → Select Route → Edit Route → Approve Not Allocated
Not Travelled
What does it mean?
A Not Travelled exception occurs when a student had a booking for the route but did not Scan ON to the bus.
An occasional Not Travelled exception may simply mean the student's travel plans changed for that day. However, repeated exceptions can result in seats being reserved for students who aren't regularly using the service.
What should I check?
If a student regularly appears as Not Travelled, review their existing bus bookings and confirm whether their current travel pattern is still required.
Ways to Combat Not Travelled Exceptions
Schools have a couple of options to help reduce repeated Not Travelled exceptions:
Contact the Parent
The School can contact the parent directly and ask them to keep their child's bookings up to date through the RollCall Parent App.
If their child is not travelling, the parent can:
- Create an Absence for the required date.
- Delete bus bookings that are no longer required.
Keeping bookings up to date helps provide a more accurate passenger manifest and prevents unnecessary seats from being reserved.
Configure a Non-Travelled Surcharge
Schools using RollCall Payments can configure a Non-Travelled Surcharge.
This applies an additional fixed $ amount on top of the student's standard bus fare when they are recorded as Not Travelled.
To configure this, navigate to:
Settings → Payment Settings → Non-Travelled Surcharge
A Non-Travelled Surcharge can encourage families to cancel bookings or submit an absence when their child will not be travelling.
Best Practice: Before introducing a Non-Travelled Surcharge, communicate the process to parents so they understand how to cancel an unnecessary booking or submit an absence through the Parent App.
Off Stop
What does it mean?
An Off Stop exception occurs when a student Scans ON or OFF at an unregistered location, rather than at a recognised bus stop.
Why is this important?
Off Stop is one of the highest-risk exceptions for a School to review.
An Off Stop can indicate that a student has been picked up or dropped off at a location that has not been registered and safety checked by the School.
This is particularly important from a duty of care perspective. If the location has not been approved as an official bus stop, the School may not have been able to confirm that the location is suitable and safe for student pick-up or drop-off.
For this reason, Off Stop exceptions should be reviewed and addressed rather than treated as a routine travel exception.
What should I check?
If an Off Stop exception occurs:
- Confirm where the student was picked up or dropped off.
- Confirm whether this was expected or authorised.
- Check whether the student's allocated stop is correct.
- Determine why the Driver picked up or dropped off the student at an unregistered location.
- Look for repeated Off Stop exceptions involving the same student, Driver, route or location.
Important: Repeated Off Stop exceptions can indicate that an unregistered location is being used as an unofficial bus stop. Schools should investigate these occurrences to ensure their approved transport and student safety processes are being followed.
Wrong Stop
What does it mean?
A Wrong Stop occurs when a student Scans ON or OFF within the geofence of a different stop from their allocated stop.
Off Stop vs Wrong Stop
This is worth giving its own visual callout because I think it's one of the most useful distinctions for an Admin:
| Off Stop | Wrong Stop | |
|---|---|---|
| Student scans at allocated stop | No | No |
| RollCall recognises another stop | No | Yes |
| Scan is outside a recognised stop geofence | Yes | No |
| Recommended action | Review location/geofence | Review student's allocated stop |
What should I check?
If the same student regularly receives a Wrong Stop exception, check whether their allocated stop still reflects where they normally board or alight.
Route Auto-Complete
What does it mean?
A Route Auto-Complete exception means there were still students logged as being on the bus when the route was automatically completed by RollCall.
RollCall performs an automatic daily rollover to close any routes that have not been correctly completed:
- AM Routes: 12:00 PM
- PM Routes: 8:00 PM
If a route is still open at this time, the system automatically completes it, resulting in the Route Auto-Complete exception for students who were still logged on the bus.
Why does this happen?
In most cases, this is a one-off occurrence where the Driver has not fully completed the route process in the Driver App.
An occasional Route Auto-Complete may not indicate an ongoing problem, but it should be monitored to ensure it does not become a repeated occurrence.
What should I do?
If you notice a Route Auto-Complete exception:
- Check whether it is an isolated occurrence or happening regularly.
- If it becomes a repeat issue, speak with the Driver or Bus Company.
- Ensure the Driver understands the correct process for completing a route and confirming that all students have been accounted for before finishing their run.
Important: Repeated Route Auto-Complete exceptions can indicate that Drivers are not consistently completing their routes correctly. Schools should monitor these exceptions and work with their Driver or Bus Company to reinforce the correct route completion process.
Maintaining Your Exceptions
Exceptions are most useful when schools look for patterns, rather than treating every individual exception as a problem.
We recommend regularly reviewing:
- Students with repeated No Card exceptions
- Students repeatedly travelling Off Stop
- Students regularly using the Wrong Stop
- Students frequently appearing as Not Allocated
- Students with repeated Not Travelled bookings
- Routes regularly receiving Route Auto-Complete
Regular maintenance keeps student bookings, stop allocations and route information aligned with how students are actually travelling.
Reporting on Exceptions
RollCall provides two key reports for reviewing and investigating exceptions: the Exception Details Report and the Trip and Exception Details Report.
Which report you use depends on whether you're looking for exception trends or investigating what happened during a particular journey.
Exception Details Report
The Exception Details Report is best used to identify specific exceptions and recurring patterns over a selected period of time.
You can filter the report by:
- Bus
- Driver
- Student
- Exception
Use this report to:
- Review all exceptions recorded against a particular student.
- Identify repeated Off Stop, No Card, Not Allocated, or other exceptions.
- Determine whether an exception is a one-off or recurring issue.
- Check whether exceptions are regularly associated with a particular Bus or Driver.
Trip and Exception Details Report
The Trip and Exception Details Report combines the Trip Details Report and Exception Details Report, allowing you to see a student's travel information alongside any exceptions recorded during their journey.
Use this report when you need additional context around an exception, such as:
- Reviewing the student's travel activity alongside the exception.
- Seeing when and where the student Scanned ON or OFF.
- Investigating what happened during a particular journey.
- Understanding the travel activity surrounding an Off Stop, Wrong Stop, No Card, or other exception.
Which report should I use?
Use the Exception Details Report to identify patterns and recurring exceptions. Once you've identified an exception that requires further investigation, use the Trip and Exception Details Report to understand the student's travel activity and what occurred during the journey.
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