For the first time in 20 years, the capital's bus routes have been rebuilt from scratch in a "streamlined" model designed to boost trip frequencies by ferrying more passengers through major interchanges and along the light rail corridor.

But, on the ground, many complained they had been left stranded at stations, watching buses or trams sail past too full to board.

Confused commuters swarmed around customer service officials in bright yellow vests during the morning and evening crush.

Parents were also negotiating the new timetable with their children, following the loss of most dedicated school buses in the shake-up.

Some students said they were late to school for the first day of term two as they changed buses at busy interchanges.

For Year 10 student Miranda Anatasi, the usual 30 minute trip from Woden to Daramalan College in Dickson had blown out to at least an hour and a half each way.

"It used to be one bus there, now I have to take a bus, then light rail then a bus to get home," she said. "It's pretty confusing."

But, while some commuters took to social media to vent their frustration, a Transport Canberra spokeswoman said the government was "extremely happy" with the network's debut.

"We expect that it will take people a little time to get use to it, and adjust their travel patterns," she said.

"Services during peak travel times were reported to be busy, as they usually are during our peak travel times. There was a delay to one school service in the [morning] peak, however this was due to illness, and not as a result of changes to the network."

Many parents in the south railed against the changes, with some reporting that students living in Kambah had to leave home as early as 7am to arrive on time for school.

Cameron Dickens took the day off work to help his two children find their way to school from Palmerston - a commute now faster for the kids to travel by bike.

"It's difficult because both my wife and I start work at 7:30 in the morning yet now we've got to drop them at the stop as well," he said.

But his daughter, Bridgette, was far from intimidated by the public system. The 10-year-old had already planned her trip to the Australian Institute of Sport after school for swimming training.

"I'm not scared being on my own," she said.

Officials say some school services were axed to make better use of Canberra's bus fleet as the city's population swells.

Following community backlash over student safety, Transport Canberra scaled back its initial plans but about half of Canberra schools still lost all their dedicated buses on Monday.

While some commuters reported smooth sailing under the new timetable, others were taken aback by the change, arriving to find bus stops suddenly out of service.

"They've cut the bus that was on my street, but I can't seem to find any sensible alternative," one woman, who had walked to the Dickson interchange, said.

"It was a long walk this morning. I should have taken an Uber."

David, who is blind, said he now had to to cross Northbourne Avenue to catch his bus to the south.

"It takes longer now. And they renumbered every platform here in Civic, so I had to get special orientation so I could navigate the interchange by myself," David said.

"I just want to get home," exclaimed another man poring over a map.

Still there was one sweetener - travel will be free for the first month of operation.

Find more information on the Transport Canberra website or call Access Canberra 13 17 10.