Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold information on bus service operations centrally including those between Moodiesburn and Glasgow. We expect bus services to run to their registered timetables. Specific information about services should be referred to the Traffic Commissioner at The Stamp Office, 10 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EG.

The number of passengers that can be carried in public service vehicles (buses) is set out in the Public Service Vehicles (Carrying Capacity) Regulations 1984, governed by the design of the vehicle, the space in the saloon, the number of seats, gangway space and available handholds. These parameters are approved by a certifying officer from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), an agency of the Department for Transport.

Once the number of passengers, seated or standing, is determined, this information must be prominently displayed in the vehicle. If the numbers indicated on the notice in the vehicle are exceeded, the vehicle is being operated illegally. Specific allegations where a driver is allowing the capacity of the vehicle to be exceeded should be referred to the Traffic Commissioner. The Traffic Commissioner can be contacted at Office of the Traffic Commissioner, The Stamp Office, 10 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EG.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on bus service registrations. All local bus services must be registered with the Traffic Commissioner. The Traffic Commissioner can be contacted at Office of the Traffic Commissioner, The Stamp Office, 10 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EG.

The provision of local bus services is generally a matter for individual bus operators, who use their own commercial judgement on service routes and frequencies including the number and size of vehicles used. Local authorities can provide subsidy for services that are not provided on a commercial basis but this is entirely a matter for the local authority. The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities for this purpose.

The majority of bus services in Scotland are operated on a commercial basis by private bus companies. Provided that an operator registers a service with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner, they can operate any route to any frequency they wish. Local authorities can provide subsidy for services that are not provided on a commercial basis but this is entirely a matter for the local authority. The Scottish Government provide funding to local authorities for this purpose.

(a) Local authority figures are available from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). Figures are published online as part of the SHS Transport: Local Area Analysis web tables. Table 1 shows the relevant data and can found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Transport-Travel/PubTranAcrScot.

(b) Although the SHS has a large sample that covers the whole of Scotland, it has some geographical limitations because of the sample sizes in small local authorities and because it is designed to be representative only at national and local authority level. Results are not available at Scottish Parliamentary Constituency level.

The Scottish Government does not have contractual agreements with bus companies for the provision of services. We do not hold information on the penalty clauses in contracts between bus companies and third parties, which would be a matter for them.

This information is not collected or held by Scottish Government.

Bus companies are not required to undertake any consultation before altering a route. However, they are required to notify relevant local authorities of service changes 14 days prior to submitting their application to the Traffic Commissioner. Bus companies are required to submit applications for service changes to the Traffic Commissioner 56 days prior to the date on which the changes are due to take place.

We believe that the current regulatory regime covering the provision of local bus services is adequate for its intended purpose and as such we have no plans at present to make changes to it.