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P.S.V. Field•
Legal Provisions-Covering the Operatior, of Buses and Coaches are Explained in This Article, Written for the Benefil of Potential Entrantsto the Industry
THE series of articles I. recently conctuded was Written in : response to several requests:: It ,dealt with cost recOrding; and, in its application may be used in connection with coach operation as well as the conveyance of goods. The two: inquiries which precipitated this article are peculiarly alike, yet they dome one frorn•Kent and the other. from Scotland. Both ask for advi-ce on starting a private-hire service and, if I think it practicable; a touring
• service. Both alsO ask what is the minimum capital requirement . .. . . .
The first thing to do to satisfy these two correspondents is clearly to set out the legal aspects of the operation of passenger vehicles: the matter of capital requirements .must come later.
The subject is not a new one; it has been dealt with many a time in these columns. Justification for its repetition lies in the fact that The Commercial Motor is subject at all times to the incursions of the newcomer. As a beginning, I propose to .deal with the subject on broad lines, covering the operation of passengervehicles generally, and then dealing more specifically with the problerri,of private hire.
There are actually four categories of use of a passenger vehiCle. • It may be used as.a bus, an express coach, for tours and. excursions or, for private hire. The first of the fonr, • the' use of the.vehicle as a bus, is more properly referred.to as the use of the vehicle as a stage carriage. That use described in popular terms, is the employment ' of the machine travelling along specified routes, offering a service of vehicles at regular intervals and charging each passenger a fare assessed approximately on a mileage basis.
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-Minimum Fare' .. An express carriage is, in effect, a stage coach, but in its operation caters for medium-distance passengers. As a rule there is a.minimum rare, usually Is. or over. Next, there is the provision Mr' fours and excursions. They are long or short trips from-the operator's:heailquarters, day trips, halfday trips, :weekly and fortnightly tours and so on. Lastly comes the,use of the Vehicle as a contract carriage.
Before the operator can begin to use his vehicle he must obtain two or more licences. All four classes of use call
for two -authorizations for each vehicle. The first is a • public service vehicle licence. This will be granted. only in respect of a vehicle in connection with which the operator has obtained a certificate of fitness, and that is 'issued only when certain prescribed conditions of fitness are fulfilled.
If the vehicle is new, the certificate Of fitness :can be obtained almost automatically. as the eoach will certainly have been constructed to comply with all the conditions
which are essential to the granting of such a certific The public service vehicle licence, issued by the Licem Authority, is in effect an indication that he has exami and approved the certificate of fitness.
Even . with these two papers, however, there is still o
one type of use open the operator, that of a coon carriage, and the difficulty of meeting all the conditi involved in the use of the vehicle for that purpose is atm enough to put the :would-be operator off trying to them. I shall.; deal With these conditions at length in I article, but for the present propose merely to point out t for entry into any other-of these four methods of work a further licence is required:. • Excess of Facilities If the vehicle is to be. used as an express carriage' or tours and • excursions, 'another licence, the road sers licence, must be Obtained. This type' ollicence is anyth but easy to get. To obtain it application must be made the Authority and he will grant it Only if he is satis1 that there is need for the service Whieh it is proposed run and that the use of the vehicle for that purpose wo not create excess of facilities..
In other words, the Authority must be convinced that use of the vehicle will not bring about wasteful competiti Therein lies the attraction of private-hire or contrs carriage work—no road service licence is required. Mc over, the profitable routes over which to operate a st; or express carriage service are by now well filled.
The position in the case of the two coirespondents wh inquiries I am considering is not Very favourable to chances of obtaining road service licences.. I should that either of them would have extreme difficulty obtaining a licence to use a vehicle as a stage carria hardly less difficulty in obtaining permission for an expr carriage, but less trouble, perhaps, if he wished to ust only for tours and excursions.
On the other hand, its use as a contract carriage invol meticulous adherence to a somewhat complicated set rules, the principal purpose of which is to ensure that contract carriage can invade the spheres of operation the other three types.
A contract carriage is for the conveyance of priv parties on special occasions. The governing princi underlying the use of a coach in this way is that passengers may not, except under exceptional circumstam be carried at separate fares which might be charged acco ing to .the varying distances an individual might tras The vehicle must be hired as a whole. . All the following conditions should be carefully studied. rst, all the arrangements for bringing together the ssengers for the purpose of making the journey as a party 1st not be made by the holder of the public service hide licence or a person who receives any remuneration respect of these arrangements. Furthermore, the journey 1st be made without previous notice to the public of the 7angements for the particular trip.
Next, all the passengers must, in regard to that particular Jrney, be carried to or near the destination, or, in the se of a tour, be carried • for •the greater part of the J rney. No differentiation of fares for the journey on basis of distance or of time must be made to any iividual. • In the case of a journey to a particular destination, the ssengers must not include any person who frequently, Or a matter of routine, travels at or about the time of day which the journey is made to that destination from the irting point or any place en route. (This provision events the operation of contract carriages on works' rvices.) •
The operator of the vehicle must, within a prescribed ne, make a record of the journey, but the regulations do it require details of the fares or prices to be recorded. so, the driver of the vehicle must carry a work ticket ntaining• such particulars as may be prescribed for the irpose of enabling the details of the journey as described 'the operator's record to be checked.
It is permissible for the work ticket to be combined with e record: two separate documents are not now required. ie driver must' produce the work ticket for inspection if quired to do so by any police constable or an examiner .pointed by the Licensing Authority.
The following information is required on the operator's cord and on the work ticket. On" the operator's record ere must be shown: (1) the time and date of the cornencement and termination of the journey; (2) the point which the journey began and finished and a description the route, sufficient to show adequately the extent of the urney; and (3) the name and address of the person who • ade the party arrangements.
Particulars on Work Ticket
The work ticket must contain these particulars: (1) the ime and address 'of the holder of the public service licence ✓ the vehicles used for the journey; (2) the name of the iver; (3) the mileage and registration mark of the vehicle; ) the time and date at which the journey started; (5) the .te on which the journey ended if other than the date ofirting; (6) the point at which the journey began and a Indent description of the route to show adequately the tent of the journey; and (7) the name and address of e person who made the arrangements.
If the stipulations as to the details to be entered on the ierator's record and those which must be entered on e work ticket are examined, it will be found that most of ern are the same on each, and no doubt that is one of the asons why it has been made permissible for the combined ark ticket and record to be used instead of separate icuments.
The record must be made out not later than 72 hours ter completion of the journey and must be kept for six onths and be available for inspection by any person tthorized to do so.
Finally, I should point out that it is also necessary for e driver of the vehicle to hold a public service vehicle iving licence for which, in normal times, it is necessary at he should pass a medical examination and a driving
it on the type of vehicle he would drive for his employer. NOw to turn to the conditions involved in obtaining a
ad service licence. If it is intended to run the vehicle regular services, the applicant for the licence must submit the authority particulars of the type of vehicle he intends use, also time and fare tables. Before the licence is anted,. the' Authority has to be convinced that there is real need for the service which the applicant wishes to ovide. The Authority must also take note of other operators in whose opinion there is no demand for the extra facility.
The Authority considers the matter in the light of the following factors. First, he must take regard of the services already in operation on the route for which the licence is required, and the following matters: (1) the suitability of the route; (2) the extent, if any, to which the needs of the proposed route are already served; (3) the extent to which the proposed service is necessary or desirable in the public interest; and (4) the needs of the area as a whole in relation to traffic (including the provision of adequate, suitable and efficient services, the elimination of unnecessary services and the provision of unremunerative services) and the co-ordination of all forms of passenger transport.
Obiections to Application That is the Authority's programme of items to be taken into account when considering the application. So far as
• the objectors are concerned, it is laid down that the
• Authority must, in addition to the foregoing, take into consideration any objections by existing operators or any local authority in the district concerned. After considering all these matters, he may come to the conclusion that a
• licence may be granted. He may prescribe picking-up or setting-down restrictions as he may think desirable.
A further complication arises if the proposed service operates in more than one traffic area, for in such circumstances the operator must hold a road service licence in respect of each. These licences, granted in other areas after the first. are described as "backings." In dealing with an application for a " backing " licence, the Authority may impose any condition and may even vary any condition attached to the original licence. There is an exception to this rule, and that is when the route to be followed is in 'what is called a "corridor area." A " corridor area ", is a traffic area in which passengers will not be taken ap or set down or permitted to alight for the purpose of 'sight-seeing or for any other Purpose requiring a halt of more than 15 minutes. In such circumstances, the ordinary licences may be granted to cover both the original area and a "corridor area" as if it had been backed.
Copies of such applications are available for inspection at the offices of the Authority. Furthermore there is_ a Government issue of a publication bearing the title "Notices and Proceedings." This contains details of all applications, public sittings and decisions. It may be inspected free of charge.
Objections or representations must be set out in writing and must state the specific grounds of objection and the conditions which it is desired to attach to the licence or " backing " if granted. Such objections must be submitted to the Authority not later than 14 days after the publication Of the application. A copy of the objections must simultaneously be sent to the applicant.
In the foregoing, I think I have dealt as fully as possible with the legal aspect of the problem of how to start a passenger-carrying concern. This, as the operator will no doubt appreciate, is only one of the many problems to which he will have to give consideration and which he must solve if he is to make the best use of his vehicles.
I would suggest that if he has in view the use of the vehicles for stage carriage, express carriage work or tours and excursions, he would be well advised to put in his application for• a road service licence before he actually buys and takes delivery of the vehicle. In such a case he should make it clear, on the form he will complete, that the application is in respect of a vehicle to be acquired.
S.T.R.