Transport (London) Act 1969

23 Regulation of services by public service vehicles in and around London

(1) As from the vesting date, any enactment passed before this Act which makes special provision as to the regulation of services by public service vehicles in the London Passenger Transport Area or the London Special Area shall cease to have effect; and, subject to the provisions of this section and Schedule 4 to this Act, Part III of the Act of 1960 shall have effect accordingly within as well as outside the limits of those areas.

(2) As from the vesting date, no person other than the Executive or a subsidiary of theirs shall provide a London bus service except in pursuance of an agreement with the Executive or under a consent continued in force or granted under Schedule 4 to this Act, and notwithstanding anything in Part III of the Act of 1960—

(a) no road service licence shall be required for the provision of any bus service operated wholly as a London bus service; and

(b) where such a licence is granted in respect of a bus service operated in part only as a London bus service, no condition shall be attached to the licence with respect to the carriage of passengers who are both taken up and set down in Greater London ;

and any such licence in force immediately before the vesting date, if or so far as that licence relates to the operation of a London bus service, and any condition attached to such a licence, if or so far as that condition relates to the carriage of passengers who are both taken up and set down in Greater London, shall cease to have effect.

(3) Where it is proposed—

(a) to provide a bus service which is to be operated wholly or in part as a London bus service and which has not been provided continuously since immediately before the vesting date, whether the proposed service is to be provided by, or by a subsidiary of, the Executive or by some other person in pursuance of an agreement under subsection (2) of this section ; or

(b) to vary a bus service which is being, and has at all times since before the vesting date been, operated as aforesaid,

then, before deciding on, or on the provisions to be contained in such an agreement with respect to, or on any variation affecting, the route of that service or a terminal point, point at which passengers may or may not be taken up or set down, or place at which, or street by the use of which, vehicles used for that service may turn at a terminal point, the Executive shall, so far as the service is or is to be provided in Greater London, consult with the Council, with the commissioner or commissioners of police concerned, with any of the councils of the London boroughs or the Common Council within whose area that route, point, place or street is situated, and with any other person whom it appears proper to the Executive for them to consult.

(4) Where any agreement under subsection (2) of this section relates to a bus service part only of which is operated as a London bus service, any provision contained in that agreement with respect to the carriage of passengers other than those who are both taken up and set down in Greater London shall be of no effect if or so far as it is inconsistent with any condition for the time being attached to any road service licence under which the bus service is provided.

(5) If any person provides a bus service in contravention of subsection (2) of this section, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200 ; but proceedings for an offence under this subsection shall not be instituted except by or on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, or by or with the authority of the Executive or a commissioner of police.

(6) Section 21 of the Act of 1968 (which contains provisions as to the functions of traffic commissioners in connection with designated areas within the meaning of section 9(1) of that Act) shall have effect as if, except for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) of that section, Greater London were such a designated area and the Executive were the Executive for that designated area and as if—

(a) the reference in subsection (4) of the said section 21 to an agreement made for the purposes of section 19(2) of that Act included a reference to an agreement under subsection (2) of this section; and

(b) the reference in subsection (5)(a)(iii) of the said section 21 to Schedule 6 to that Act included a reference to Schedule 4 to this Act;

and subsections (2) and (3) of the said section 21 (which relate to disputes as to whether a service is or is not an excursion or tour) shall have effect for the purposes of this section as if references therein to an excursion or tour included references to an express feeder service.

(7) In this section and Schedule 4 to this Act—

• " bus service " means a service for the carriage of passengers by road for which a road service licence is required, or would but for subsection (2)(a) of this section be required, other than an excursion or tour within the meaning of the Act of 1968 ;

• " commissioner of police " means, in relation to the metropolitan police district, the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and, in relation to the City of London, the Commissioner of Police for the City of London;

• " express feeder service " means, subject to section 21(2) and (3) of the Act of 1968 as applied by subsection (6) of this section, a bus service—

  (a)

  for the carriage of passengers to a terminal point in Greater London for the purpose of enabling those passengers to transfer to another vehicle forming part of a service of express carriages proceeding from that terminal point to a place outside Greater London, or for the carriage from a terminal point in Greater London of passengers who have transferred at that terminal point from another vehicle forming part of a service of express carriages proceeding to that terminal point from a place outside Greater London, and in either case whether or not the terminal point, other vehicle or service of express carriages in question is the same in the case of all those passengers; and

  (b)

  in the case of which the following conditions are satisfied, that is to say—

  (i)

  that no separate fare is charged for the conveyance to or from the terminal point; and

  (ii)

  that the vehicle in which the passengers are carried is operated by or in association with the person providing the service of express carriages and is being used solely for the purpose of carrying passengers to and from the terminal point of that service ;

• " London bus service " means a bus service which is, or so far as it is, a service on which passengers may be taken up and set down at different places within Greater London, whether or not any passengers on that service may also be taken up or set down outside Greater London, but does not include an express feeder service ;

• " road service licence " has the same meaning as for the purposes of the Act of 1960 and includes a permit granted under section 30 of the Act of 1968.