I have noticed some inaccuracies in recent pieces regarding the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) and thought I should try to set the record straight.
The PSVAR regulate what many people still refer to as ‘DDA’ (the Disability Discrimination Act). Many will know that the DDA was actually repealed when the focus in the UK shifted from legislating against discrimination to promoting equality for everyone and the Equality Act 2010 came into force.
There are two common misconceptions regarding PSVAR. The first is that the regulations only apply to registered services. This is not the case. In simple terms, the true position is that if a service operates to a timetable and separate fares are charged, then a service comes into scope. There are of course many services that meet these criteria but that do not need to be registered, not least long distance scheduled coach services.
The second misconception is that non-compliant coaches can be used on in-scope services until 2020. The true position is that 1 January 2020 is the end date for the use of older coaches.
CPT worked with the Government to ensure that the regulations gave the industry time to comply with the accessibility requirements. This resulted in a situation where new vehicles would need to progressively comply when used on in-scope services, but older vehicles could continue to be used until the end of their reasonable life; in the case of coaches, this meant the industry had 20 years to comply.
However, coaches registered on or after 31 December 2000 and used on in-scope services needed to be equipped with various accessibility features and those registered from 2005 onwards needed also to be wheelchair accessible.
I hope this helps clarify the position. CPT has a straightforward PSVAR guidance note with more details and this is available to CPT members on request.
On a separate point, I have also noticed various references to Euro 6 in the magazine. I thought I should take the opportunity to clarify that Euro 6 is a standard for light vehicles; it is a very different standard to Euro VI, which is the standard relevant to the coach and bus sector.
Keith McNally,
Operations Director,
CPT UK
