Transport Act 1985

Product Information

For the purposes of Article 28(3), the Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain (i.e. such traffic commissioner as the senior traffic commissioner may, pursuant to section 4B of the 1981 Act, require to carry out the functions of a traffic commissioner in respect of those licences, failing which, the senior traffic commissioner) are designated as the national enforcement authority (Regulation 8 of The Rights of Passengers in Bus and Coach Transport (Exemptions and Enforcement) Regulations 2013) in respect of a relevant person who holds a PSV operator’s licence. The designated body to which any passenger may submit a complaint about an alleged contravention of Regulation (EU) No 181/2011 by any relevant person is first to the relevant person who is the subject of the complaint. If the complaint is not resolved within three months after submission to the relevant person, the body specified in respect of any complaint concerning:

At present (August 2009), children 3 to 13 years are not legally required to use seat belts. Regulations will be put in place as soon as possible which will require these children to use seat belts, or where available, child seats / boosters appropriate to their weight (as in cars). In many cases child seats / boosters won’t be available because parents / carers don’t have them, or they won’t fit in this type of vehicle, so seat belts will have to be used. Children under 3 years may be carried unrestrained if there is no baby / child seat available. The seat belt should not be used for both adult and child if a child under 3 years is carried on the lap of an adult - in the event of a crash the child would be in danger of being crushed. Until regulations can be put in place, many organisations will wish to make it their policy that seat belts (or child restraints where possible) are used. European Union ( EU) Regulation 1071/2009 governs access to the occupation of road passenger transport operator. The Transport Act (Amendment) Regulations 2019 require all operators using or applying for a permit to meet one of the exemptions to EU Regulation 1071/2009, before satisfying the not-for-profit and other criteria set out in the 1985 Act. You can set fares or contributions at a level to recover the costs of running the vehicle, including an allowance for vehicle depreciation and drivers’ wages. However fares must not be set at a level which would produce a regular surplus of income over expenditure because that would be a profit-making operation and would not eligible under the section 19 permit scheme. In this case you would be likely to need a PSV operator’s licence. Passengers in wheelchairs and disabled personsYour permit and disc are important documents and should be kept safe. You should notify whoever issued it and ask for a replacement, if a permit is lost or destroyed (or becomes defaced or faded). The originals must be returned to the issuing body immediately if you later find it.

As a permit holder you have a responsibility to make sure that your services are operated within the law, with vehicles properly maintained and using drivers with the appropriate qualifications. You should discuss with the body that issued the permit or with DVSA if you’re in any doubt about your obligations in operating your vehicles safely and legally, or your ongoing entitlement to operate under the permit. 2. Types of permit persons who believe that it would be unsafe for them to use any public passenger transport servicesExisting permit holders must satisfy themselves that they fall within the non-commercial exemption and must be able to provide sufficient evidence to the permit issuer if required. The permit holder must consider whether or not each and every one of its services fits within their non-commercial purposes. Any determination of impact must have a geographical basis. However, the existence of a degree of competition in a local market with operators holding PSV ‘O’ licences should not preclude reliance on this exemption, provided that the impact on the wider market is small. the vehicle isn’t operated with a view to profit, nor incidentally to an activity which is itself carried on with a view to profit Additionally, with effect from 6 April 2009, existing small bus permits may be used with vehicles which can carry 8 or fewer passengers. However, the passeng This Guidance may be subject to decisions of the higher courts and to subsequent legislation. The Senior Traffic Commissioner, however, has extracted the following principles from existing case law. General approach

bodies concerned with health and welfare services eligible for grants under the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968. Bus operation is complex and susceptible to external factors (such as road works and congestion). A degree of flexibility (‘window of tolerance’) has therefore been set when determining if services run on time. Buses should not depart from starting points and registered principal timing points more than 1 minute early or more than 5 minutes late, or arrive at the final destination point more than 5 minutes late. In general, 95% of buses should meet this standard. Further guidance on the operation of the short distance exemption was released on 27 September 2019, it is to be read in conjunction with this material. The national market An Act to amend the law relating to road passenger transport; to make provision for the transfer of the operations of the National Bus Company to the private sector; to provide for the reorganisation of passenger transport in the public sector; to provide for local and central government financial support for certain passenger transport services and travel concessions; to make further provision with respect to the powers of London Regional Transport; to make new provision with respect to the constitution, powers and proceedings of the Transport Tribunal; to make provision with respect to grants payable under section 92 of the Finance Act 1965; to establish a Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee; and for connected purposes.

Changes over time for: Part IV

At the public inquiry the traffic commissioner can hear full and detailed evidence of all relevant issues and of the steps taken by the operator and the local traffic authority to improve compliance. The traffic commissioner can obtain a structured and timed action plan to improve compliance and where appropriate this can be put into the public domain. The onus is on the operator and local traffic authority to provide regular updates to the traffic commissioner who can then ascertain if the plan is working. In such cases it will always be open to the traffic commissioner to convene a further public inquiry. 2.8 Starting points Your organisation may be eligible for a Bus Service Operator’s Grant ( BSOG), which is claimed from the Department for Transport. You may be eligible if your organisation holds a section 22 permit, as you’ll be operating a registered local bus service. All services within the automatic ‘short distance’ (see second paragraph below under ‘Determining a “short distance”’) are judged to have minor impact on the transport market but the exemption will only be available to ‘not-for-profit’ operators applying for permits under the 1985 Act. Determining a ‘short distance’ School minibuses which are used to transport people are covered by a Section 19 permit scheme. [6] The reference to "Section 19" relates to the Transport Act 1985. [7] See also [ edit ] Class C - disabled persons (as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) or persons who are seriously ill and persons assisting them.

A vehicle being used under a section 19 permit must not be used to carry members of the general public. Each section 19 permit, and corresponding disc, will indicate the particular classes of persons who can be carried. Each permit and disc will specify one or more of the following classes of person: persons suffering a degree of social exclusion by virtue of unemployment, poverty or other economic factors, homelessness, geographical remoteness, ill health, or religious or cultural customs It is important that the traffic commissioner’s statutory powers should not be emasculated by an over elaborate approach to the investigation or an unnecessary attention to detail. See: at least one bus stop in every town and village along the route with a population of more than 2,000 people;non-discrimination and mandatory assistance for disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility; Designated bodies only have the power to grant section 19 permits authorising the use of vehicles adapted to carry no more than 16 passengers (standard permit). They can’t grant a section 19 permit authorising the use of a large bus (adapted to carry 17 or more passengers) and they can’t grant section 22 permits. where a partnership is in place, notify and provide up to date details to the traffic commissioner and/or relevant enforcement agency and share reports on the levels of punctuality / reliability; Traffic commissioners must decide whether to discount the findings presented to them by the relevant enforcement agency and may decide to give the operator the benefit of the doubt in relation to journeys which are close to the window of tolerance (see 2004/138 Parkash Ram Banga trading as Banga Travel). Sampling / monitoring / information provision