Transport Act 1985

Product Information

Where a designated body has issued a permit to a member group and that group subsequently ceases to be a member, the designated body should exercise its powers to revoke the permit. The group will then need to submit an application for a new permit to the traffic commissioner for consideration, should they wish to continue to operate vehicles. However, the judgment does not completely preclude cross-subsidies. For example, if an operator providing rural bus services is doing so for the sole purpose of social welfare, then the fact that some routes are profitable whilst others are not does not prevent it from falling within the non-commercial purposes exemption, despite an element of cross-subsidisation between different routes. Operators not permitted to hold an ‘O’ licence and a Section 19 or 22 permit

Passengers must be informed of the requirement to wear seat belts. This may be done by means of an announcement by the driver or group leader, or by means of an audio-visual display presentation or by signs displayed at every seating position. It’s an offence to fail to take reasonable steps to ensure that passengers are so notified. A permit is not required if no charge is made either directly or indirectly for services that include carriage on the vehicle. 4.2 Without a view to profit (‘not-for-profit’) The 2018 Regulations amend the 1986 Regulations, introducing a new requirement for England only, to notify the relevant local authorities 28 days in advance of any application to a traffic commissioner to introduce, vary or cancel a local bus service. Here are links to: have proper systems in place for managing and diverting resources such as having cover for driver illness, vehicle breakdown and the like; An organisation’s main occupation cannot be simply inferred by reference to their constitutional documents, though these may be relevant alongside other evidence.In interpreting the meaning of the exclusively non-commercial purposes exemption, the judgment focused on requiring an operator to ascertain all of its purposes in providing road passenger transport services, i.e. why an operator provides its services, and whether all those purposes are exclusively non-commercial. There is a fee payable with the application. See the table of fees for applying for a section 19 standard or large bus permit. How many permits can I apply for?

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. A Certificate of Conformity is for vehicles covered by a Type Approval Certificate. Type approval is the approval of mass-produced vehicles and components and the certificate sets the specification of a vehicle or vehicle component. Permits for large buses can only be issued by the traffic commissioner to a body which assists and co-ordinates the activities of bodies concerned with: You can apply for as many permits as you need. You need a permit for every vehicle that you’ll operating at any one time. Each vehicle must display the disc that relates to the permit in the windscreen. For example, if you want to operate 3 vehicles at the same time, you must have 3 permits. You can apply for more than one permit on an application form. You can apply for more permits at any time, if your needs change and you want to operate more vehicles. The same legal entity cannot hold both an ‘O’ licence and a section 19 or 22 permit under the 1985 Act. This is regardless of whether an organisation is carrying out all services for exclusively non-commercial purposes. 3.3 Main occupation exemptionIn Great Britain, the default legal position is that all operators to whom the EU Regulation applies must hold a Public Service Vehicle ( PSV) operator’s licence (‘O’ licence) and comply with the associated requirements. Section 19 permits are either ‘standard permits’ for vehicles which are adapted to carry no more than 16 passengers (excluding the driver) or ‘large bus permits’ for vehicles which are adapted to carry 17 or more passengers. These permits may be granted to organisations that operate vehicles without a view to profit to transport their members, or people whom the organisation exists to help. Section 19 permit vehicles can’t be used to carry members of the general public. Existing 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. rights of passengers in the event of accidents arising from the use of the bus or coach, resulting in death or personal injury or loss or damage to luggage;

Where the service interval is 10 minutes or less, 6 or more buses should depart within any period of 60 minutes and the interval between consecutive buses should not exceed 15 minutes. In general, 95% of buses should meet this standard. 2.4 Principal timing points The fact that an operator may make a surplus does not, in and of itself, prevent the operator from falling within the scope of the non-commercial purposes exemption. However, if any surplus is made, permit holders must retain evidence about when and how that surplus has or will be reinvested into their organisation. Competitive procurement or tendering for contracts Class E - persons living within a geographically defined local community, or group of communities, whose public transport needs are not met other than by virtue of services provided by the body holding the permit. undertakings…which have a main occupation other than that of road passenger transport operator” (the “main occupation exemption”)

Changes over time for: Section 106

It is acceptable for buses to arrive early at their final destination, but the traffic commissioners do not expect to find undue recovery time inserted in the timetable towards the end of a journey. If there is any suggestion that a request to surrender the licence under section 15 of the 1981 Act is being used as a means of avoiding the registered timetable then this must be referred to a traffic commissioner for consideration of action under section 17 of the 1981 Act. 2.3 Frequent services The eligibility of a CIC to hold a section 19 permit will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The key point is that the transport services must not be provided with a view to profit, nor incidentally to an activity that is carried on for profit. An important consideration is likely to be whether or not the CIC has share capital. Where there is share capital, and profits may be distributed in the form of dividends to shareholders, the CIC is highly unlikely to be eligible for a section 19 permit. Also, where the intention is that the CIC will (or might) generate a return which would then be made available to another CIC, the ‘not-for-profit’ requirement is unlikely to be met. Section 18 of the Transport Act 1985, as amended (‘the 1985 Act’) exempts any vehicle used under a permit granted under section 19 or section 22 of the 1985 Act, from the requirement to hold a PSV ‘O’ licence. Section 19 and section 22 permits can be granted by traffic commissioners whilst other designated bodies can issue section 19 permits, apart from those for large buses.

Section 27A (as amended by section 63 of the Local Transport Act 2008 which cross refers to section 250 of the Local Government Act 1972) provides that if a traffic commissioner holds a public inquiry into poor punctuality they can, by summons, require a representative from the local traffic authority to attend to give evidence or to produce any documents in their custody or under their control which relate to any matter in question at the inquiry. Those applying for a section 19 permit must satisfy the issuing body that the transport services aren’t run with a view to profit, nor incidentally to an activity which is itself carried on with a view to profit. The Act was created as a response to growing concern about the environmental effect the private transportation was having and the public's objection to an increase in road construction. [1] The Act was introduced by Nicholas Ridley and it committed to reduce the amount the public paid for commercial objects. This was achieved by reducing the control governments had of bus systems and reducing the subsidies to bus companies. The Conservative government also believed the removal of subsidies and local government control would lead to an increase in competition between companies. The deregulation of buses applied throughout Great Britain, excluding bus services in Greater London, and was led by the Conservative government. [1] [2] Public transport remains under direct public control in Northern Ireland. When deciding whether to impose a penalty a traffic commissioner should take account of any partnership arrangements and how effectively the operator and local authority have worked together as well as performance levels. The traffic commissioner should also consider what steps the operator has taken to ensure compliance.Should an existing permit holder consider that it no longer satisfies the non-commercial purposes exemption, it should immediately notify the permit issuer and the permit should be revoked. The operator would then have to comply with the ‘O’ licence regime unless it can evidence that it falls within one of the other exemptions to the EU Regulation. Charitable status There‘s no such restriction on the holders of a section 19 permit from tendering for contracts to provide services which are not classified as local services. This may include, for example, school transport on which members of the general public aren’t carried, or specialised door-to-door services such as Dial-a-Ride. However, the holder of a section 19 permit may only provide services under a contract where the contract is limited to the carriage of passengers within the class or classes specified on the section 19 permit. The government has given effect to the short distance exemption through The Transport Act 1985 (Amendment) Regulations 2019 which came into force on 1 October 2019.