Duties and powers of local transport authorities to support bus services

Transport Act 1985

Subsidising Services

Section 63 of the Transport Act 1985 (“the 1985 Act”) places a duty on councils to secure the provision of public transport services they consider appropriate in order to meet any public transport needs that cannot be provided on a commercial basis (e.g., evening and weekend buses that serve hospitals or major employment sites). Under section 63, councils can enter into agreements to provide subsidies to operators in order to secure a service. Such services are tendered and let to commercial operators in return for payment from the council. Similarly, section 9A(4) of the Transport Act 1968 enables Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) to enter into agreements to provide subsidised services within the SPT area.

Transport (Scotland) Act 2001

Information about bus services

Sections 33 and 34 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 (“the 2001 Act”) place responsibilities on LTAs to ensure local bus information is made available to the public. Local bus information is defined in section 33 and includes information about routes and timetabling of local services, fares for journeys on such services, and such other information about facilities for disabled persons, travel concessions, connections with other public transport, or other matters of value to the public as the LTA considers appropriate in relation to their area.

Section 33 of the 2001 Act requires LTAs to seek to arrange for operators of local services to make the information available, and section 34 requires LTAs to make the information available where they are unable to make satisfactory arrangements with operators under section 33. Bus operators must furnish information to the authority or a third party in such circumstances, to enable the LTA to meet its obligations. In cases where the LTA has had to make the service information available, they may be able to recover reasonable costs from the operators concerned.

Other bus options within the 2001 Act

The 2001 Act provided opportunities for LTAs to be more involved in the improvement of local bus networks. The Act did this by giving LTAs wide ranging powers enabling them to collaborate with operators through Quality Partnerships (QPs) and Quality Contracts (QCs), although both of these models have now been replaced. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (“the 2019 Act”) replaced QPs with Bus Services Improvement Partnerships (“BSIPs”) and replaced QCs with Local Services Franchises. Although, LTAs can still collaborate with operators via a voluntary partnership without having to agree any legal process.

LTA information gathering powers

Section 43 of the 2001 Act also provides LTAs with the power to obtain service information from bus operators. An authority can require information from operators in connection with the formulation of their “relevant general policies” (see chapter 6). An LTA can require information about the following matters:

• The total number of journeys undertaken by passengers on the local services operated by the operator in the authority’s area or any part of such area.
• The structure of fares for those journeys, and
• The total distance covered by vehicles used by the operator in operating those local services.

Ticketing arrangements and ticketing schemes

Sections 28 to 32 of the 2001 Act contain provisions on ticketing arrangements and ticketing schemes in relation to local bus services (and “ticketing arrangements” as defined in section 28(5) of the 2001 Act). LTAs are required to keep under consideration what ticketing arrangements should be made available in their area. LTAs also have powers to make arrangements with operators to make the required ticketing arrangements available or, if necessary, LTAs may make ticketing schemes under which operators must make and implement ticketing arrangements.