Transport (Scotland) Act 2001

Provision of information

33Information about bus services

(1)Each local transport authority shall from time to time determine, having regard to their relevant general policies—

(a)what local bus information should be made available to the public (in this section referred to as the “required information”); and

(b)the way in which it should be made available (in this section and in section 34 of this Act referred to as the “appropriate way”).

(2)Before making such a determination, the authority shall consult—

(a)the traffic commissioner;

(b)such organisations appearing to the authority to be representative of users of local services as they think fit; and

(c)such other persons as the authority think fit.

(3)Each authority shall from time to time ascertain whether the required information is being made available to the public in the appropriate way.

(4)If an authority ascertain that the required information is not being made available to the public in the appropriate way the authority shall seek to make arrangements with the operator or operators of the local services concerned under which the operator or operators agree to make the information available in that way.

(5)In this section—

• “local bus information”, in relation to a local transport authority, means—

  (a)

  information about routes and timetabling of local services to, from and within the authority’s area;

  (b)

  information about fares for journeys on such local services; and

  (c)

  such other information about facilities for disabled persons, travel concessions, connections with other public passenger transport services (within the meaning of the 1985 Act) or other matters of value to the public as the authority consider appropriate in relation to their area; and

• “travel concession” has the meaning given by section 68(7) of this Act.

(6)This section and sections 34 and 35 of this Act do not apply to any local authority to the extent that any part of the area of the authority is comprised in the passenger transport area of the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority.

34Duty of authority to make information available

(1)If a local transport authority are unable to make satisfactory arrangements in pursuance of section 33(4) of this Act, they, or two or more such authorities acting jointly—

(a)shall make available, or secure that there is made available, in such manner as they determine, such information as is not being made available in the appropriate way in their area, or each of their areas (whether by virtue of arrangements made under section 33(4) of this Act or otherwise); and

(b)may recover from the operator or operators of the local services concerned the reasonable costs incurred by them in doing so as a civil debt due to them.

(2)In determining for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above what is reasonable in relation to a particular operator, the authority, or as the case may be authorities, shall have regard to—

(a)the amount of information which has to be made available; and

(b)the way in which that information has to be made available,

in respect of the local services provided by that operator.

(3)If the authority, or as the case may be authorities, require an operator to provide information to them or another person in order to perform their duty under subsection (1)(a) above, the operator shall provide the information at such times and in such manner as may be specified by the authority (or authorities).

(4)The authority, or as the case may be authorities, shall give notice to the traffic commissioner of any requirement imposed under subsection (3) above.

35Bus information: supplementary

In carrying out their functions under sections 33 and 34 of this Act, local transport authorities—

(a)shall act in the manner which is, in the opinion of the authority, most economic, efficient and effective; and

(b)shall not act in such a way as to discriminate (whether directly or indirectly) against any operator, or class of operator, of local services.