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In a peaceful yet growing country town in north-east Victoria back-to-school nerves are buzzing through tidy new streets.
Tangambalanga twins Madison and Amelia Harding are preparing to start year one at a primary school in their neighbouring school zone, but like many students in regional Victoria simply getting to school is becoming a challenge.
The girls this year missed out on school bus seats to reach their public school because it is not their closest one.
It has split the family commute, with their older brother scoring a bus seat to a local high school.
It is not the first time the family has had their school commute plans disrupted, having to wait the entire first term last year before being able to secure bus seats.
They will now rely on a private car for the school run.
"My partner has had to change her hours to fit around school drop off and I have changed mine to reflect that so I can get to school pick up," father Matthew Harding said.
"I think it's great to live out here but you kind of get forgotten.
"You don't have public transport like in Melbourne so you have got nothing else to rely on."
Pressure on regional growth corridors
To qualify for a school bus seat at no cost students must live in Victoria and meet eligibility criteria, including that they attend their closest government or eligible non-government school and live at least 4.8 kilometres from the school they attend.
Eligible government-school students also have priority over eligible non-government students.
Government and non-government students not attending their closest appropriate school are assessed and required to pay a fare per term, but could lose their seat if the service is at capacity.
Calls are growing for that to change to help regional families with limited public transport.
Tangambalanga mother Gabrielle Giddens is one local parent struggling to secure a bus seat having enrolled her four children in Catholic education.
Her two Catholic primary school children have missed out on bus seats this year which will leave her with a weekly 500-kilometre school run in total, and impact the hours she can return to work.
"Sometimes the closest school you do have isn't suited to your child because not every child has the same needs, and not every school is equipped for those needs," she said.
The Victorian government has just rolled out new school bus services to help relieve pressure in outer Melbourne growth corridors, and Mrs Giddens said similar support should be made available in booming regional areas.
"There's more families having to move further out of town because that's where blocks are, where you can afford a house, but …there's no transportation or amenities like that for us out here," she said.
Trying alternative solutions
Catholic College Wodonga has dozens of eligible enrolled students from across the region struggling to get to school.
Some of those students are in nearby towns with no local secondary school options.
The college has now purchased a 39-seat bus for the school year and employed a driver to keep up with demand.
But even that is not enough.
"I know that a number of our families are significantly stressed by this — and particularly our students," principal Lorraine Willis said.
"What is unfortunate is that a lot of students that are impacted by this are students new to high school."
Many families are now looking to carpooling options, and Catholic College Wodonga has joined their calls for better regional school bus services.
"I think what we are seeing there is a real need for the whole system here to be reviewed so our eligible families can have access to safe and reliable transport to schools," Ms Willis said.
Amid a state government review of Wodonga's local School Bus Program network, Benambra MP Bill Tilley agrees.
"The government has a responsibility to get the kids of hard-working families to school," he said.
"The system is set up for Melbourne. We don't have the luxury of public transport buses, trains, and trams when the school bus is full.
"It falls back on the taxi of mum and dad, and Melbourne doesn't get that.
"There was a review last year of the school buses that proposed no change — despite what we understand was the finding that the buses through the growth corridor are oversubscribed, while some four buses that service Chiltern and Barnawartha are only half full."
A Victorian government spokesperson said the Department of Education works with schools regularly to ensure the School Bus Program meets community needs.
"Draft proposals for longer-term improvements to the school bus network are also currently out for consultation with schools and key stakeholders," the statement said.