The summer is a good time for taking stock and planning for the autumn as well as being able to take a break, and that is especially important for those involved in home-to-school transport, who, by all accounts, have had a busy few months.
There have been a few changes too; the general election has brought new faces around the Department for Transport table, with Simon Lightwood appointed as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Local Transport, which includes responsibility for coaches and buses. We look forward to meeting with him and dealing with the increasing number of items that are on the coach industry’s priority list.
Recent accessible information regulations and their impact on rail replacement services provided by coaches is one such item. Many coach operators that I have spoken to have decided to abandon taking on the work rather than go to the expense of having audible and visual display equipment fitted. There is also the question of the time required to programme it before going out on a job.
The result? Speaking from local observations, many rail replacement operations that used to have sleek coaches providing the transport now have older buses, probably spare from home-to-school duties. There is nothing wrong in that per se, but such vehicles are not always suitable for the longer journey.
PSVAR is also still there on the list. The 2024 minimum compliance levels for the medium-term exemptions have now come into force and those for 2025 are therefore less than a year away. For many, the 2025 compliance levels are a step change, as all coach operators with home-to-school or rail replacement fleets will now require at least one fully compliant vehicle.
However, those that are now seeking to replace or retrofit coaches so that they meet the requirements are finding that supply is harder to come by than they first thought. I know of at least one operator that is going to reduce the volume of home-to-school work that it undertakes because it cannot obtain suitable vehicles. As the scale of the problem becomes known in the next few weeks and months, the risk is that others may follow suit.
The driver shortage is also an issue and, I believe, more government help is required to attract and retain good people in the coach industry. A thorough review of the domestic drivers’ hours and some of the current restrictions is required to ease recruitment without compromising safety.
And, of course, the road to zero-emission, and what that future looks like, is also a big issue that is lurking at the back of the minds of many of those who run or own their coach business. I am in no doubt that this is one of the factors behind many coach companies making the decision to sell up — either to bigger groups, by consolidating, or simply deciding to wind down and sell their assets.
We do not want parts of the UK to be a ‘coach desert’ where schools and the like cannot find anyone to provide their transport needs. And yet, I suggest this is a real possibility. Exploring the use of bio-fuels and what role they can play in decarbonising the coach industry is therefore, in my opinion, an essential ingredient on the priority list.
We of course cannot forget BODS, the EU Entry/Exit System, and a number of other issues that need to be tackled.
I wish you all good rest of the summer and look forward to working with you in tacking these issues head on.
